MN2M = My Notes To Myself.
Seven officials of Union Carbide Ltd (UCL) were convicted and sentenced two years jail term on 7th June 2010. The court awarded this sentence after almost 25 years. The gas leak in Bhopal unit of UCL had occurred on 3rd Dec 1984 which had resulted in more than 35000 deaths in the neighboring slums.
The seven accused includes the business leader Mr Keshub Mahindra (who was non-executive Chairman of Union Carbide in 1984). Mr Keshub Mahindra is the current Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra, the car-and-utility-vehicle manufacturer. The other six accused were employees of Union Carbide, Bhopal.
This note is not about the cause of the gas leak or about the award or the lives lost or about the accsued. The note is on the lessons one can take to pre-empt such incidents in future.
a. Adequate safety measures must be taken as per the industry standards and specifications in such installations.
b. Adequate factor-of-safety must also be taken into consideration in such installations.
c. Adequate back-up systems to contain leakages, fire, explosion, … must also be in place. The management must not compromise in these aspects.
d. Preventive Maintenance of these installations must be performed regularly. A very detailed checklist(s) must be in place for ensuring the desired Preventive Maintenance.
e. Strict and regular Safety Inspections must be conducted. Inspection checklists must be thoroughly designed and must take into consideration every remote/minute aspect that could cause an accident.
f. The top management must have a system to ensure that the Safety Inspections and the Preventive Maintenances are carried out strictly, regularly, in its letter and spirit.
g. A third-party Inspection agency may also be considered to eventually ensure the desired Safety Systems and Preventive Maintenance systems in such installations.
h. Habitation in the immediate vicinity of such factories must be discouraged.
j. In the industry forums (national and international), measures to enhance the safety of such installations must be discussed and the reports must be published. It will facilitate continual improvement in Safety Standards.
Through such safety measures, the lives lost could have been avoided and the effects of the gas leak could have been contained significantly. The UCL officials would also have done their duty and would not have been accused and convicted by the court.
Senior officials in such organizations would have to take the lead and have the desired safety systems and procedures in place. It makes no sense to spend a career in litigations, court visits, … with the fear of a probable jail-term hovering over the head all the time, with guilt, …. Definitely not.
What I have penned here, is an ‘ideal approach’ . There could have been some ‘practical issues’ which would have resulted in some compromise of safety systems somewhere. That’s a moot point.
Jaikishan (9th June 2010)
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