Bhopal Disaster
Abstract
When operating a dangerous business such as producing chemicals, tragedies are often unforeseeable. In public relations, being prepared for all scenarios is a constant challenge. The challenges can be found working in collaborate with different cultures. However, when facing those challenges head on, it is imperative that each case is handled in the best possible way. In Union Carbide, thousands of lives were lost. The lives lost could’ve have been prevented. But it is not to place blame on one entity of the business, but to handle the situation respectively and efficiently. There will be many examples on how the deaths of the employees could’ve have been minimized if the precautions were enforced.
On December 3, 1984, an explosion occurred at the Union Carbide India Ltd pesticide plant. The plant was located in Bhopal, India. It was partly run by the parent corporation in Danbury, Connecticut. In early years, the plant was managed by employees from Connecticut. It provided protection from damage to crops, losses in food storage, and toxic mold growth in food supplies which would cause loss of life from starvation and food poisoning. Famine in India during the 1980’s had indebted farmers and squashed expected growth in demand (Pg.1, 2001 Fortun). The Bhopal plant supplied pesticides and served a market anticipated to expand. The plant expanded. Union Carbide India Ltd was one of India’s largest firms. The year the incident occurred; there were 14 plants and over 9,000 employees (Steiner 2009). Initially, the key important chemical methyl isocyanate (MIC) was imported. It was shipped into India. India was in search of self- sufficiency and didn’t want any inclination of subjugation. The Indian government pressured Union Carbide to stop importing the chemical, claiming that it would be more efficient if the chemical could be made at the plant (Weir, 1987). Due to the pressure from the government, management was turned over to Indian Government
When operating a dangerous business such as producing chemicals, tragedies are often unforeseeable. In public relations, being prepared for all scenarios is a constant challenge. The challenges can be found working in collaborate with different cultures. However, when facing those challenges head on, it is imperative that each case is handled in the best possible way. In Union Carbide, thousands of lives were lost. The lives lost could’ve have been prevented. But it is not to place blame on one entity of the business, but to handle the situation respectively and efficiently. There will be many examples on how the deaths of the employees could’ve have been minimized if the precautions were enforced.
On December 3, 1984, an explosion occurred at the Union Carbide India Ltd pesticide plant. The plant was located in Bhopal, India. It was partly run by the parent corporation in Danbury, Connecticut. In early years, the plant was managed by employees from Connecticut. It provided protection from damage to crops, losses in food storage, and toxic mold growth in food supplies which would cause loss of life from starvation and food poisoning. Famine in India during the 1980’s had indebted farmers and squashed expected growth in demand (Pg.1, 2001 Fortun). The Bhopal plant supplied pesticides and served a market anticipated to expand. The plant expanded. Union Carbide India Ltd was one of India’s largest firms. The year the incident occurred; there were 14 plants and over 9,000 employees (Steiner 2009). Initially, the key important chemical methyl isocyanate (MIC) was imported. It was shipped into India. India was in search of self- sufficiency and didn’t want any inclination of subjugation. The Indian government pressured Union Carbide to stop importing the chemical, claiming that it would be more efficient if the chemical could be made at the plant (Weir, 1987). Due to the pressure from the government, management was turned over to Indian Government
References: 1) Lapierre, Dominique., Moro, Javier (2009) Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World’s Deadliest Industrial Disaster , Hacthcett Digital, Inc. 2) Weir, David (1987) The Bhopal Syndrome. San Francisco: Sierra Clubs Books, pg. xii 3) Fortun, Kim (2001) Advocacy After Bhopal , Chicago: University of Chicago Press 4) The Lancet (2000) Has the World Forgotten Bhopal? P. 1863 5) Steiner, John F.., Steiner, George A. (2009) Business, Government, and Society : Union Carbide Corporation and Bhopal