Case Study Analysis Union Carbide Corporation And

Case Study Analysis: Union Carbide Corporation And Bhopal Essay, Research Paper

BUS 784

The Political, Social, and Legal Environment of Business

Case Study Analysis: Union Carbide Corporation and Bhopal

Date: 11-16-99

Name: Sheng-Chi Chen

Student Id. : 997541112

A individual faux pas in action may do enduring sorrow. A little error in operation at a Union Carbide pesticide works in Bhopal of India causes a batch of deceases and hurts. What a calamity it is. Undoubtedly, there must be something incorrect with the direction of the works.

In add-on to the works, the authoritiess related in India that issued licenses and provided inducements for the works, Bhopal community functionaries who permitted slum inhabitants to travel near the works in illegal colonies, Indian environmental and safety inspectors should besides be responsible for this. The authoritiess related in India issued licenses because people need occupations, or people would hunger to decease. This was one ground in my sentiment. Soft money from Union Carbide works may be another ground for publishing licenses. It was clearly that the authoritiess in America would non publish a license to Union Carbide works under such fortunes, which lacked of terrible environmental criterions and permitted slum inhabitants to populate near the works and so on. Such actions were the fuses taking to more deceases. Before the major gas escape from the MCI unit on December 3, 1984, some people were killed because of phosgene gas escape. However, no one took it earnestly in malice of the study by media. One of the grounds that people ignore this was because people didn & # 161 ; & # 166 ; Ts know the possible danger of the chemical works. The other ground was that there are non adequate environmental inspectors to cover so many workss in India. Besides, those inspectors had a record of loose enforcement. Consequently, danger emerged merely as the expression goes & # 161 ; & # 167 ; Nothing comes of nothing. & # 161 ; & # 168 ;

As for the direction of Union Carbide & # 161 ; & # 166 ; s Bhopal works, some stairss so needed to be improved. Let us take a expression at the whole procedure of the gas leak and see what actions can be improved. The first error in my sentiment was that R. Khan, an operator in the MIC composite, neglected to infix a faux pas blind above the point of H2O entry. This skip violated instructions in the MIC processing manual, the proficient manual that set Forth processs established by the chemical applied scientists who set up the works. Obviously, the works failed to stress the importance of obeying the processing manual and the danger of disobeying that. It is really of import to follow bit-by-bit action under such a unsafe working status. Then, a new operator noticed there was something incorrect with armored combat vehicle 610, but was unconcerned because the gages were frequently incorrect. That was truly astonishing to me. There is no difference whether the works had the gages or non in this manner. Unfortunately, the infrigidation units that cooled the armored combat vehicles had been shut down for five months as an economic system step. However, every instrument has its ain usage. It is non allowed to disregard any one portion of a machine. When the operator informed his supervisor, the supervisor suggested repairing leak after a tea interruption for about 20 fiv

vitamin E proceedingss. It is so incredible that a supervisor would non react to his subsidiary instantly. The state of affairs may go wholly different if the supervisor can take immediate action to that state of affairs at that clip since a supervisor may hold more cognition or experience to command the whole state of affairs. It ne’er rains but it pours. The scrubber, which was designed to manage the temperature and force per unit area, and a flair tower, designed to fire off toxic gases before the gas escaped into the ambiance were either down for care or off-line. At the same clip, the works violated another process in the MIC processing manual, which called for go forthing one armored combat vehicle empty as safety step. When the works overseer arrived in the control room, gas leak was out of control already. I think that it could be a turning point at that clip merely if the works overseer could besides thought of how to deliver the slum inhabitants nearby the works. He forgot to utilize the coachs owned by their ain works to evacuate those occupants. He besides forgot to utilize broadcast to inform those occupants to take a breath through a wet fabric because MIC was so reactive with H2O. Therefore, calamity occurred. We can see at that place was so much hapless direction and operation needed to be changed in the Union Carbide?¦s Bhopal works.

As a consequence, the undermentioned came a batch of cases, demanding compensation, and probes, look intoing the cause of the MIC leak, against the works. During the probes, both the authorities of India and the inside of the Union Carbide did research on that incident. We are non surprised at their different replies because the works wanted to cover the truth that was harmful to themselves and the authorities as a consequence could non acquire the truth on the other manus. However, I can & # 161 ; & # 166 ; t deny that the works truly did something such as alleviation fund, developing school, and so on to turn out that they truly wanted to counterbalance for that gas leak. In this instance, I don & # 161 ; & # 166 ; T think that the CEO of Union Carbide should be arrested or be sentenced. But I do believe he should be responsible for the whole instance. In other words, he should vacate for the whole incident.

By and large talking, the legal system didn & # 161 ; & # 166 ; t play a really active function in this instance. First of wholly, the India authorities could make more on delving the truth of the gas leak out and put a more rigorous criterion to modulate such unsafe workss in instance that another crisis. Second, I didn & # 161 ; & # 166 ; Ts see any one who worked in the Union Carbide & # 161 ; & # 166 ; s Bhopal works should be responsible for that calamity. Does it intend that all that the India tribunal wanted was money or it merely wanted to cut down test and subsequent entreaties because it might hold taken more than twenty old ages?

To sum up, Union Carbide handled the crisis smartly but non good plenty because it knew what would the India authorities and tribunal react to this incident. Union Carbide controlled the whole state of affairs and took lead of the cases itself. The India authorities and tribunal didn & # 161 ; & # 166 ; T help those victims every bit much as they needed alternatively. The map of authorities, designed to protect its people, disappeared in this instance.

Bibliography

& # 161 ; & # 167 ; Union Carbide Corporation And Bhopal, & # 161 ; & # 168 ; in Steiner and Steiner, pp.147-161.