Ethical Issues in Bhopal Gas Leak

This report discusses the ethical issues surrounding the Bhopal gas leak in 1984 and the responsibilities of Union Carbide India Limited, a subsidiary of US Union Carbide. It highlights the neglect of ethical values and the consequences of poor facility quality and lack of dynamic instruments.

Business Law and
Ethics

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................3
.........................................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
This report revolves around the ethical issues that Union Carbide faced in the gas leak of
2-3 December 1984 . According to the data collected at the time almost 5,00,000 people were
exposed to a toxic gas named Methyl Isocyanate (MIC). The incident is also known as the
Bhopal Disaster. The incident took place in a subsidiary of the organisation, US Union Carbide
named Union Carbide India Limited. The report revolves around the ethical position and
responsibilities associated with the parent company and how they were fulfilled. The report also
focuses on the magnitude of the issues that arose due to the ignorance of moral and ethical
values associated with the operations of the organisation.
MAIN BODY
This report is an accumulated sum of the ethical values related with the Bhopal Gas leak
on the night of 2-3 December 1984. This is considered to be one of the biggest industrial disaster
all over the globe. A business is considered to be an extension of society's will and wants in
which the organisation operates within. The safety, health and security of the stakeholders along
with the public associated with Union Carbide India Limited, a subsidiary of US Union Carbide
should be their top most priority (Nanda, 2020). An analysis determined that it was the lack of
instruments along with their poor quality of facility that caused the leak.
The conclusions that are drawn in this report as in accordance to NSPE which an
abbreviation for National Society of Professional Engineers. In accordance to this framework
the safety, health and security of the general public associated with Union Carbide India Limited,
a subsidiary of US Union Carbide should be their topmost priority. An organisation should not
only consider these dynamics when it comes to establishing the operational code of conduct, but
in addition to that an organisation should put efforts when it comes to putting efforts in the
development of the stakeholders (Howland, 2020). This aforementioned case all of these ethical
values were neglected. According to a report by NSPE, two out of the three main safety systems
were underdeveloped and therefore were unable to cope up with the situation. The very first of
those safety precautions being the flare tower. An analysis on the situation shows that water
sprays were not working properly at the time of disaster. The refrigeration units that were
developed especially to store the toxic gas, that effected almost 5,00,000 people living around
the organisation was shut off months before the actual disaster took place. In order to store
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Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) safely, the organisation needed to keep it cool and therefore due to
unethical shutting down of refrigeration units was one of the biggest reasons for the leak.
Taking in consideration the aforementioned dynamics it can be said that the ethical
values that Union Carbide India Limited, a subsidiary of US Union Carbide had to consider
totally neglected. Even though the management of the organisation were well aware about the
situation and having the knowledge about the subject they were well aware about the effects that
this toxic gas could cause if it got out (Bogard, 2019), and they still chose to ignore all of those
units. An organisation whose magnitude is as huge as US Union Carbide must be well aware
about the fact that the not only these practices could effect the operational contingency of the
organisation but in addition to that, it was strictly against the code of conduct established by the
legislative policies of the marketplace they operate within. In India, any organisation could only
get the permission in order to store and carry on their operations with such toxic substances only
if they sign an assurance contract that they will operate within the ethical code of conduct set by
the concerned authorities. In addition to that an inspection is also conducted by the authorities
before approving the operations that are based on using toxic substances.
In order to safety store Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) there is a need of inhibit chemical
reactions as well. And they were shut down months before this disaster, almost the same time
refrigeration got cut off. In addition to that the public associated with the tragedy were not even
aware about the presence of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) in the industry (Bhat, et al 2018). If an
organisation stores such toxic substances which can become a threat to the health and safety of
the public around it, it falls under their ethical responsibility to inform the public about the same
and along with this, it is their responsibility as well to educate the public about the prevention
methodologies in case any disaster happens and none of these responsibilities were fulfilled in
this scenario. This case is termed as one of the biggest industrial disasters in the world because
there were countless dynamics and safety precautions that were neglected by the organisation.
Even after being well aware of the consequences, the organisation still chose to ignore all of
those dynamics keeping the safety and health of the stakeholders associated with this situation
that in turn lead to this disaster.
Installation a chemical plant near such a huge habitation of people itself is a serious
question of business ethics (Lerner, 2017). Any business who undertake operations of such
hazardous chemical plants or any business which has any such substance or chemical that can be
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a serious threat and danger to humanity shall better be aware of its responsibility towards society
and people. As business activities in such plants are highly technical and specialised its
understood that majority of the population living near that plant would be unaware of ingredients
like Methyl isocyanate which are integral part of operations and that pose such big threats. These
affairs of business are well known to the business management and can be well managed by
them. Either the company make sure that these ingredients are not used in excess quantity so
they pour out to harm habitants, or the company make sure that there must not occur any lapses
from business side that result in any disaster. Also it becomes the prime responsibility of the
business as well as governmental administration to make people aware abut presence of such
hazardous ingredients. Another dimension in this matter could be the role of Non-governmental
organisations, media and press, and all other institutes and individuals who possess knowledge of
any possible disaster. Information provided and awareness generated in these concerns can alone
prove very helpful. When people will be aware they can raise demand of preventive measures
from business or government or they can manage to cater preventive resources on their own.
This will help organising them in a common way to fight any future threat (Senthilkumar, et al
2020). Also, if they stay aware, they will be able to take timely actions even after the accident.
When administration in that area will be informed in advance, they can make arrangements of
hospitality, medications etc. and under the aftermath of accidents they can timely action in
evacuating people, organising them in camps and providing them with basic necessities like
food. Secondly, Administration can either stop installation of such plants close to habitation or
keep a constant track over the performance of these businesses to make sure they work in ethical
and harmless ways. Apart from all, it primarily remains business enterprise responsibilities to
take steps for countering any danger from use of dangerous chemical substances, as its imprints
of such disaster can be irrecoverable and long lasting.
But when it comes on the enterprises to fulfil these responsibilities they generally get
reluctant. These businesses are profit driven so they focus on minimising the cost of operations
not on increasing the one. This was also seen in the case of Bhopal gas tragedy where Unions
carbide was on cost cutting campaign (Bisht, 2018). The jobs were cut and training period was
reduced from 6 months to 15 days which resulted in human errors and leakage of MIC through
improperly sealed pipeline. But the Union carbide escaped from taking any responsibility and its
management failed to conduct themselves lawfully, ethically and responsibly.
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CONCLUSION
This report concludes that welfare, safety and health of the stakeholders associated with
an organisation should be their biggest priority. Along with it report also develops an
understanding that an organisation is an extension of will and wants of the society their operates
within and therefore US Union Carbide who is a subsidiary of Union Carbide India Limited was
responsible for neglecting all the ethical values that should be taken into consideration by an
organisation. The Bhopal Tragedy is considered to be one of the biggest industrial disaster
worldwide. The neglect towards ethical values establish an outline for drawing a reliable
conclusion that the organisation's operational code of conduct was not in accordance to the
values and responsibilities towards the market they operate within. The report also concludes that
it was their poor facility quality and lack of dynamic instruments that accumulated towards the
leak.
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REFERENCES
Nanda, V.P., 2020. For Whom the Bell Tolls in the Aftermath of the Bhopal Tragedy:
Reflections on Forum Non Conveniens and Alternative Methods of Resolving the
Bhopal Dispute. Denver Journal of International Law & Policy. 15(2). pp.3.
Howland, T., 2020. Can International Law Prevent Another Bhopal Tragedy. Denver Journal of
International Law & Policy. 15(2). pp.7.
Bogard, W., 2019. The Bhopal Tragedy. In The Bhopal Tragedy (pp. 1-33). Routledge.
Bhat, S.S. and Rao, S.G., 2018. Toxicology: the blind spot. Asian Pacific Journal of Health
Sciences. 5(3). pp.225-232.
Lerner, A.B., 2017. Manufactured Silence. Economic & Political Weekly. 52(30). pp.57.
Senthilkumar, C.S., Malla, T.M.U.D., Akhter, S., Sah, N.K. and Ganesh, N., 2020. Susceptibility
of the Bhopal–methyl isocyanate (MIC)–gas–tragedy survivors and their offspring to
COVID-19: What we know, what we don’t and what we should?. Ciencia & saude
coletiva. 25. pp.4225-4230.
Bisht, P., 2018. Social movements and the scaling of memory and justice in
Bhopal. Contemporary South Asia. 26(1). pp.18-33.
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