Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries
The legacy of Bhopal: The impact over the last 20 years and future direction
Section snippets
Background
In his 1913 publication, Wallace (1913) writes about mine-related deaths, that notwithstanding Acts of Parliament and numerous inspectors, explosions and other accidents underground continue to increase. The year 1910 was a record year, with its 1775 deaths; and even the number of deaths in proportion to the workers employed being the highest for the last 20 years. He goes on to say that,
“As the [nineteenth] century wore on, other evils of a similar nature were gradually brought to light.
Regulatory initiatives in the United States
In the United States, regulatory oversight was codified in 1990, when the US Congress passed the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) in the wake of Bhopal and several other serious domestic and international chemical plant incidents. The legislation contained three major provisions impacting chemical safety, and gave added authority to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate the industry. OSHA was directed to create,
The European experience
Due to the geographical and political characteristics of the European continent, the regulatory context becomes complex. Geographically each country is small enough and connected to other countries by rivers as to have the potential to impact neighboring countries in the case of major chemical incidents. Each nation has different regulations, however; during the last few years the members of the European Community and other countries had to adapt their own regulatory frame to the requirements
Bhopal and Industry's response
The legacy of Bhopal left its impact not only on the policy framework, but also on aspects such as recommended practices and operation guidelines developed by industry associations and trade organizations. In 1980, the program now adopted worldwide and known as Responsible Care® was developed in Canada by the Canadian Chemical Producers' Association (CCPA). The United States started its implementation through the American Chemistry Council (ACC) eight years later, after the Bhopal incident
The developing countries and process safety
Many countries in the third world have been experiencing high economic growth and continue to promote employment generation in accordance with the rapid industrialization. This development has, however, a direct impact on process safety practices. There is a growing concern about safety and health at work in almost all third world countries, as indicated by available incident statistics. For example, the number of reported industrial incidents in Thailand and Malaysia in 1995 was 216,525 (966
India
As the country directly affected by the wake-up call of the Bhopal incident, it is important to assess the impact of the Bhopal incident on India with regard to the country's safety culture. The incident exposed the deficiencies in the Indian legal and regulatory system in the areas of hazard and risk management. The systems in place were essentially artifacts of the British systems that were carried over post independence (1947). There were four significant inadequacies in the Indian system
Bhopal and its impact on the academic/research community
Following the 1984 Bhopal disaster, there has been an increased activity in the research and academic community related to process safety in the chemical industry. The increased activity is also evident from Fig. 1, which lists the total publications in science and engineering journals that mention ‘process-safety’ as a keyword. The articles cover a wide variety of safety topics ranging from clinical studies to estimate toxicity, risk management, design and manufacturing processes,
Where are we now and what are future needs?
As mentioned earlier, we have made quite a bit of progress and the industry has come a long way since the tragic night of December 1984 in Bhopal. However, there are many areas that require progress and the joint efforts of all stakeholders. Some key areas that need our immediate attention are:
- •
Metrics and Measurement Systems
- •
Learning from Incidents
- •
The Challenge of Globalization
- •
Technology Transfer
- •
Emerging Issues
- •
Research Needs
Conclusions
Progress toward the improvement in safety performance can be measured by a reduction in occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. In fact, measurable progress has been made in the period 1970–1995, during which the rate of workplace fatalities fell by 78%, and the number of workplace deaths has declined by 62%. We have also seen a 25% decline in the rate of occupational injuries and illnesses from 1973 to 1994. These reductions are the result of the combined efforts of all the partners
Acknowledgements
This research was sponsored by the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center at Texas A&M University.
References (3)
Industrial accident prevention
(1959)
Cited by (45)
Introduction to safe design and standards
2023, Crises in Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Industries: Loss Prevention and Disaster ManagementSam Mannan and his scientific publications: A life in process safety research
2020, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process IndustriesEffects of forced convection and thermal radiation on high expansion foam used for LNG vapor risk mitigation
2018, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process IndustriesA journey to excellence in process safety management
2018, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries