Bhopal Disaster
Shannon Dunham
Geology 121
Mr. Erbacher
March 7, 2013
Bhopal Disaster
Researching the Bhopal India Disaster was a real eye-opener. Before researching this topic I knew very little about the tragedy. The stories and photographs portrayed a horror beyond anything I’ve ever imagined. Who is to blame for the families suffering from their losses, and the innocent people continuing to suffer? How could this have happened? After researching this topic I found that the accident occurred because of lax attitudes about safety, maintenance, and human life. The union company, which was one of the largest chemical companies in the world, decided that the Republic of India had plenty of potential for market growth in fertilizers and pesticides, since the Indian Economy was heavily based on agriculture, at that time. The company therefore took the decision to come to India, and set up its own plant in Bhopal, taking the advantage of cheap labor in India to sell its products at very competitive prices. The safety standards for the Bhopal plant were dangerously lax in comparison to that of the other Union Carbide factories in Europe and America. Critical equipment in the factory was in disrepair. The staff was too small and nowhere near sufficiently trained in safety procedures. There was not even a disaster management plan for the surrounding city! This was an accident waiting to happen. It 's appalling to consider how easily this accident could have been avoided. (Nightmare in Bhopal). Not only were there poor safety procedures, but also the location of this high-risk plant itself was near a highly populated area. “Investigations into the Bhopal Disaster suggested that Union Carbide did not have adequate safety measures in place to prevent such a disaster, and that the condition of the factory 's equipment made such an accident almost inevitable.”(What was the Bhopal Disaster). Not only were the company’s attitudes lax about safety measures, but also they
Geology 121
Mr. Erbacher
March 7, 2013
Bhopal Disaster
Researching the Bhopal India Disaster was a real eye-opener. Before researching this topic I knew very little about the tragedy. The stories and photographs portrayed a horror beyond anything I’ve ever imagined. Who is to blame for the families suffering from their losses, and the innocent people continuing to suffer? How could this have happened? After researching this topic I found that the accident occurred because of lax attitudes about safety, maintenance, and human life. The union company, which was one of the largest chemical companies in the world, decided that the Republic of India had plenty of potential for market growth in fertilizers and pesticides, since the Indian Economy was heavily based on agriculture, at that time. The company therefore took the decision to come to India, and set up its own plant in Bhopal, taking the advantage of cheap labor in India to sell its products at very competitive prices. The safety standards for the Bhopal plant were dangerously lax in comparison to that of the other Union Carbide factories in Europe and America. Critical equipment in the factory was in disrepair. The staff was too small and nowhere near sufficiently trained in safety procedures. There was not even a disaster management plan for the surrounding city! This was an accident waiting to happen. It 's appalling to consider how easily this accident could have been avoided. (Nightmare in Bhopal). Not only were there poor safety procedures, but also the location of this high-risk plant itself was near a highly populated area. “Investigations into the Bhopal Disaster suggested that Union Carbide did not have adequate safety measures in place to prevent such a disaster, and that the condition of the factory 's equipment made such an accident almost inevitable.”(What was the Bhopal Disaster). Not only were the company’s attitudes lax about safety measures, but also they
Cited: "Bhopal Accident." Bhopal Accident. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2013. "Dec. 3, 1984: Bhopal, 'Worst Industrial Accident in History '" Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2013. "Global Research." Union Carbide and the Bhopal Disaster. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2013. "Nightmare in Bhopal." Greenpeace International. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2013. Smith, S.E., and Bronwyn Harris. "What Was the Bhopal Disaster?" WiseGeek. Conjecture, 26 Feb. 2013. Web. 06 Mar. 2013.