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Kenneth Bloch - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Rethinking Bhopal: A Definitive Guide to Investigating, Preventing, and Learning from Industrial Disasters
2016Co-Authors: Kenneth BlochAbstract:Rethinking Bhopal: A Definitive Guide to Investigating, Preventing, and Learning from Industrial Disasters is the go-to source for anyone seeking to learn how to improve process safety management (PSM) through applying fundamental asset reliability and incident investigation concepts. The seeds that unified PSM on a global scale were planted in Bhopal, India on December 3, 1984. Since then, considerable progress has been made to protect both workers and communities from catastrophic industrial failures. Industry acknowledges its responsibility to create value with accrued operating experience and that using information received from previous failures is a direct way to prevent future incidents. With this principle in mind, Bloch evaluates modern references related to the Bhopal Disaster, using recognized industrial asset reliability and incident investigation concepts. The practice of objective incident investigation offers a compelling insight into specific decisions and actions that resulted in history's worst industrial Disaster. Recording a fully transparent sequence of events promotes a personal sense of accountability for anyone involved in the manufacturing industry. Lessons learned can be immediately implemented by those with direct PSM, management, engineering, and operating responsibilities. Case histories demonstrate how patterns observed in the timeline leading up to the Bhopal Disaster can be detected in modern incidents and by recognizing these patterns in present-day processes avoids counterproductive operating decisions and unprecedented destruction. This text is instrumental in helping existing organizations re-evaluate their own exposures and risks, and would be a valuable read for any member of a process safety management team. Rethinking Bhopal: A Definitive Guide to Investigating, Preventing, and Learning from Industrial Disasters provides an expansion of knowledge and understanding for the novice in PSM while also providing depth and application considerations to challenge more experienced industry professionals. Note: All royalties from this book go to the Process Safety Heritage Trust Scholarship at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, USA.Learn how to improve Process Safety Management (PSM) performance by applying fundamental asset reliability and incident investigation conceptsUnderstand your personal role in detecting and preventing Loss of Primary Containment (LOPC) incidents before they occurTake immediate action to stabilize processes under your control while promoting a systematic approach to eliminating persistent failure mechanismsIncludes case histories to helpfully illustrate how to detect potentially destructive patterns in your own organization
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Chapter 22 – Human Error∗
Rethinking Bhopal, 2016Co-Authors: Kenneth BlochAbstract:“Human error” can be used to describe anything that could possibly go wrong with a manufacturing process. Human error alone, however, does not accurately represent the root cause for catastrophic system malfunctions. Getting to the heart of the issue involves digging deep below the mere surface that tends to attract the most attention. Following a catastrophic process release, people seek answers. Stopping at the point where a person did something wrong deprives us of preventing future incidents. By analyzing the cause of human error in the Bhopal Disaster we find the embedded knowledge that industry needs to prevent future Disasters, big and small. In most cases human error occurs directly according to the patterns by which similar problems were managed in the past. It is therefore important to resist the urge to accommodate failures; we must solve them and integrate lessons that offer satisfactory protection.
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Product Manufacturing and Distribution
Rethinking Bhopal, 2016Co-Authors: Kenneth BlochAbstract:A large domestic (USA) factory was positioned to manufacture a successful new pesticide product. The domestic factory’s production rate made it possible to export surplus technical grade product to an international subsidiary in India. Upon its delivery, the technical grade product was diluted into different formulations to suit the production needs of India’s agricultural industry. To manage specific process hazards, the domestic factory incorporated special design and operating principles into the manufacturing process. A scientific basis supports the hazard management practices in place at the domestic factory. However, some of these practices proved to be treacherous in the long run. The flaws in the logic only became visible years later after the Bhopal Disaster, in a completely different factory. The resulting lessons are deep and meaningful. These lessons apply directly the prioritization of work in the manufacturing industry today.
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Chapter 3 – Incident Investigation
Rethinking Bhopal, 2016Co-Authors: Kenneth BlochAbstract:The process safety management (PSM) standard incorporates a learning process that begins with an incident investigation. Local sites that implement a methodical and repeatable incident investigation approach are better prepared to learn from their mistakes. Digesting and retaining lessons from actual incidents enables them to reduce their incident rate by making effective use of practical experience. Causes for incidents must be fully understood to avoid making superficial recommendations that could result in repeat failures. Industry’s ability to permanently benefit from lessons provided by previous incidents depends greatly on the quality of investigations being performed within local factory sites. A thorough examination of technological Disasters creates a sense of what individuals must do to prevent future incidents. Information from the Bhopal Disaster can be used to demonstrate how applying basic incident investigation principles develop the clarity needed to implement an effective PSM program.
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Chapter 19 – Compliance Audits∗
Rethinking Bhopal, 2016Co-Authors: Kenneth BlochAbstract:Periodic checks are needed to verify factory-operation proceeds according to designated policies and procedures. Auditing the process makes it possible to detect deviations that could reduce the effectiveness of process safety management. Compliance audit action items provide a formal mechanism to correct deficiencies before an unsafe or unstable operating condition can develop. An independent review of process safety hazards was conducted at the Bhopal factory shortly after the workers ended their public awareness campaign. By the time that the process was audited, many practices and performance issues contrary to design intentions were readily observable. However, the assessment failed to reconcile major deviations that were later directly involved in the Bhopal Disaster. Modern compliance audits are only potent if they detect deviations and point them out. Cold-eye reviews are also useful in determining opportunities to eliminate internal practices that could cause a major incident.
William S. Beckett - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Persistent respiratory effects in survivors of the Bhopal Disaster.
Thorax, 1998Co-Authors: William S. BeckettAbstract:OBJECTIVE: To examine the role of exposure to the 1984 Bhopal gas leak in the development of persistent obstructive airways disease. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey. SETTING: Bhopal, India. SUBJECTS: Random sample of 454 adults stratified by distance of residence from the Union Carbide plant. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self reported respiratory symptoms; indices of lung function measured by simple spirometry and adjusted for age, sex, and height according to Indian derived regression equations. RESULTS: Respiratory symptoms were significantly more common and lung function (percentage predicted forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of vital capacity (FEF25-75), and FEV1/FEV ratio) was reduced among those reporting exposure to the gas leak. The frequency of symptoms fell as exposure decreased (as estimated by distance lived from the plant), and lung function measurements displayed similar trends. These findings were not wholly accounted for by confounding by smoking or literacy, a measure of socioeconomic status. Lung function measurements were consistently lower in those reporting symptoms. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that persistent small airways obstruction among survivors of the 1984 Disaster may be attributed to gas exposure.
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Persistent respiratory effects in survivors of the Bhopal Disaster.
Thorax, 1998Co-Authors: William S. BeckettAbstract:To examine the role of exposure to the 1984 Bhopal gas leak in the development of persistent obstructive airways disease. Cross sectional survey. Bhopal, India. Random sample of 454 adults stratified by distance of residence from the Union Carbide plant. Self reported respiratory symptoms; indices of lung function measured by simple spirometry and adjusted for age, sex, and height according to Indian derived regression equations. Respiratory symptoms were significantly more common and lung function (percentage predicted forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of vital capacity (FEF25-75), and FEV1/FEV ratio) was reduced among those reporting exposure to the gas leak. The frequency of symptoms fell as exposure decreased (as estimated by distance lived from the plant), and lung function measurements displayed similar trends. These findings were not wholly accounted for by confounding by smoking or literacy, a measure of socioeconomic status. Lung function measurements were consistently lower in those reporting symptoms. Our results suggest that persistent small airways obstruction among survivors of the 1984 Disaster may be attributed to gas exposure.
Rowena Ball - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Oscillatory thermal instability | the Bhopal Disaster and liquid bombs
arXiv: Chemical Physics, 2011Co-Authors: Rowena BallAbstract:AbstractThermal runaway reactions were involved in the Bhopal Disaster of 1984, inwhich methyl isocyanate was vented from a storage tank of the liquid, and oc-cur in liquid peroxide explosions, yet to date there have been few investigationsinto the mechanism of thermal runaway in such liquid thermoreactive systems.Consequently protocols for storing thermally unstable liquids and deactivatingliquid bombs may be suboptimal. In this work the hydrolysis of methyl iso-cyanate and the thermal decomposition of triacetone triperoxide were simulatedusing a gradientless, continuous-ow reactor paradigm. This approximation en-abled stability analyses on the steady state solutions of the dynamical massand enthalpy equations. The results indicate that thermal runaway in both sys-tems is due to the onset of a large amplitude, hard thermal oscillation initiatedat a subcritical Hopf bifurcation. This type of thermal misbehaviour cannotbe predicted using classical ignition theory, and may be typical of liquid ther-moreactive systems. The mechanism of oscillatory thermal instability on thenanoscale is elucidated.Keywords: Thermal runaway, Non-classical ignition, Bhopal Disaster, Methylisocyanate, Organic peroxide explosions1. IntroductionThe causes of the world’s worst industrial Disaster at Bhopal on 2{3 Decem-ber 1984 are still being debated in the international media, more than 25 yearsafter the event. Was it caused by neglect, parsimony, or procrastination byUnion Carbide on training, safety and maintenance? Corruption, sabotage andcover-up? Inadequate government regulation? Any or all of the above may wellhave helped set up the worst possible scenario | for it could not have been anyworse | but they are contributing factors rather than causes. (A brief accountof the Disaster is given in the Appendix.)
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oscillatory thermal instability the Bhopal Disaster and liquid bombs
arXiv: Chemical Physics, 2011Co-Authors: Rowena BallAbstract:AbstractThermal runaway reactions were involved in the Bhopal Disaster of 1984, inwhich methyl isocyanate was vented from a storage tank of the liquid, and oc-cur in liquid peroxide explosions, yet to date there have been few investigationsinto the mechanism of thermal runaway in such liquid thermoreactive systems.Consequently protocols for storing thermally unstable liquids and deactivatingliquid bombs may be suboptimal. In this work the hydrolysis of methyl iso-cyanate and the thermal decomposition of triacetone triperoxide were simulatedusing a gradientless, continuous-ow reactor paradigm. This approximation en-abled stability analyses on the steady state solutions of the dynamical massand enthalpy equations. The results indicate that thermal runaway in both sys-tems is due to the onset of a large amplitude, hard thermal oscillation initiatedat a subcritical Hopf bifurcation. This type of thermal misbehaviour cannotbe predicted using classical ignition theory, and may be typical of liquid ther-moreactive systems. The mechanism of oscillatory thermal instability on thenanoscale is elucidated.Keywords: Thermal runaway, Non-classical ignition, Bhopal Disaster, Methylisocyanate, Organic peroxide explosions1. IntroductionThe causes of the world’s worst industrial Disaster at Bhopal on 2{3 Decem-ber 1984 are still being debated in the international media, more than 25 yearsafter the event. Was it caused by neglect, parsimony, or procrastination byUnion Carbide on training, safety and maintenance? Corruption, sabotage andcover-up? Inadequate government regulation? Any or all of the above may wellhave helped set up the worst possible scenario | for it could not have been anyworse | but they are contributing factors rather than causes. (A brief accountof the Disaster is given in the Appendix.)
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Oscillatory thermal instability and the Bhopal Disaster
Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 2011Co-Authors: Rowena BallAbstract:A stability analysis is presented of the hydrolysis of methyl isocyanate (MIC) using a homogeneous flow reactor paradigm. The results simulate initiation of the thermal runaway that occurred inside the storage tank of MIC at the Bhopal Union Carbide plant in December 1984. The stability properties of the model indicate that the thermal runaway may have been initiated at a large amplitude, hard thermal oscillation at a subcritical Hopf bifurcation. This type of thermal misbehavior cannot be predicted using conventional thermal diagrams and classical ignition theory, and may be typical of liquid thermoreactive systems.
A Karagiannis - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Implementation of responsible care in the chemical industry: evidence from Greece.
Journal of hazardous materials, 2010Co-Authors: K I Evangelinos, I E Nikolaou, A KaragiannisAbstract:The chemical industry can be held accountable for numerous large-scale accidents which have led to the release of dangerous hazardous materials, pollutants and toxic chemicals into the environment, two well-known examples being the Union Carbide Bhopal Disaster and the Three Mile Island tragedy). To ensure environmental protection and the Health and Safety (H&S) of communities, the chemical industry has voluntarily adopted integrated management programs such as the Responsible Care Program. The theoretical body of relevant literature attempts to explain the origin of the Responsible Care Program (RCP) through socio-political and economic theories. At the same time, the empirical research examines the ways in which various factors affect the choice of the chemical industry in their adoption of the RCP. This paper contributes to the debate by examining the challenges and barriers faced by the Greek chemical industry when adopting RCP, the environmental and H&S issues that prevail and finally, the extent of participation of stakeholders in the planning of RCP in the sector.
Eric A. Lustig - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Foreword: The Bhopal Disaster Approaches 25: Looking Back to Look Forward
Social Science Research Network, 2008Co-Authors: Eric A. LustigAbstract:The visible legacy of the Bhopal Disaster continues through the many victims and the remains of the plant property. As the contributed articles in this symposium suggest, numerous legal developments resulted from the Bhopal Disaster. Although some issues have been resolved, many issues, legal and otherwise, remain. Can a Disaster like Bhopal happen today? Have the legal developments since Bhopal made such an occurrence less likely? If such a Disaster did happen, can the existing legal system more adequately provide a just result?