BA Business Law and Ethics: Bhopal Gas Tragedy Individual Report

This individual report examines the Bhopal gas tragedy, a devastating industrial disaster. It provides a detailed background of the incident, including the leakage of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) plant in Bhopal, India, and the resulting impact on human lives and the environment. The report explores the reasons behind the incident, such as inadequate safety measures and negligence. It further analyzes the significant consequences of the disaster, including the immediate and long-term health effects on the affected population, environmental damage, and economic repercussions. The report also addresses the ethical issues faced by the company, highlighting the lack of corporate social responsibility and the failure to prioritize the safety of workers and the community. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of business ethics and the role of corporate social responsibility in preventing such tragedies.

Individual Report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK..........................................................................................................................................3
Background.................................................................................................................................3
Day of the incident .....................................................................................................................4
Reasons behind the incident........................................................................................................4
Impact of that disaster.................................................................................................................5
Ethical Issues faced.....................................................................................................................6
Corporate social responsibility of UCC......................................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Business ethics is the main stream for all the organisation as it covers various issues in
regard to moral and ethics that are being lined for the welfare of the corporation and the
company(Aghamohammadi, and et. al., 2018). It covers that every organisation should follow
the proper business practises and all the policies that being used for the benefit of the people. It
covers various area like the corporate social responsibility, fiduciary responsibilities, insider
trading and corporate governance. The ethical issues that are being implemented in the company
are being underlined as in order to make them work in a proper manner. The business practises
have to be done with all the cultural approach and the area through which there is no harm to the
morals and the ethics of the company and also to the environment. In this report there is a
discussion of case study of Bhopal gas tragedy.
TASK
Bhopal Gas Tragedy
Background
Bhopal gas tragedy has been known as the most painful and the hazardous incident that
has been taken place. This has created a major impact over all the countries specially on India as
whole lifestyle and the nature was being destroyed by that. On 3 December,1984 their happened
a major leakage in the Union Carbide India Limited(UCIL) which was the plant of pesticides that
has been situated in Bhopal, Madhya pradesh. Their was a leakage of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC)
which was the major toxic gas which has affected most of the people who were residing in
Bhopal(Hill, 2017). There were about 800,000 people living there at the time of incident. And
also they covers 2000 people who died just after the incident happened and approx 300,00
individuals were majorly affected by the poisonous gas leakage and that affected them as some
of them were permanently disabled.
The Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) was being established in 1969 that helps in
producing the pesticide Sevin which is the substitute of MIC. The establishment of the company
is through Union Carbide Corporation (UCC). They actually covers 50.9% of all the subsidiary.
The UCC plant was earlier being planned to be fixed in Bombay but there held a meeting in the
company and the minister of Bhopal has led that they want to fix a permanent plant in Bhopal

and for that they had hold a meeting as most of the workers in the Bhopal were working in the
company. So the government has raised the method and decided to fix the main factory in
Bhopal in 1969. their production was being started in 1979 for which the company has used
Sevin that has been made in united states of America. Rather the mixing of the other elements
were being done in Bhopal.
Warning Raised
In 1976, Employees working in Bhopal has raised various complains about the heavy
pollution that has been raised by the factories in the work environment. In 1981 there was a
splash of phosgene when some workers went for the cleaning purpose the workers felt suffocated
and by that time it affected them as they inhaled the air and died (Magrizos, 2020). In 1982,
their was again a serious issue raised in which the workers working for the cleaning purpose has
been affected by the gases and were admitted in the hospitals as due to the worse leakage of the
gases. Many of them died by that. By the time of 1983- 1984 so many of leakage of gases
happened in the company that were of Methyalamine, carbon tetrachloride, methyl isocyanate
and phosgene etc.
Day of the incident
On the day of the incident there were approx 6800 litres of Methyl isocyanate being filled
in the tanks of the company. And as there were about 3 tanks of MIC that were being filled they
are named as E610,E619 and E611. There were strict guidelines that no tanks will have to be
filled for more than 50% that amounts top average 30 tonnes of chemicals is being filled in the
tanks. But the workers had made it filled with 42 tonnes which created a pressure and increased
the tanks pressure to 5 times then the actual.
Reasons behind the incident
 The companies has to use certain vent scrubbers that are being made for checking the
comptroller of temperature and that even after the warning is being raised several times
was not been accurately fixed.
 There were usual cleaning of the tanks use to take place and on that day the workers
while cleaning the tanks has faced that there was some amount of water gone in the tanks
and the workers were not even knowing that such water has reacted with the MIC and
created a immense reaction.
 The temperature sensors which were being fixed are not working properly.

 The supervision in the factory was also not been proper as the person who was
supervising the company was not present at the time of incident.
 Even when the pressure is been increased the workers over their has not taken certain
steps in order to control it.
Impact of that disaster
The tragedy has affected so many of the life of the people and it has also made an impact
on the whole nation(Saiz-Alvarez, 2017). As in a period of time there is being applied that most
of the people died in minute and that has impacted the life, there were various impacts of such
disaster in that area they are as follows:
 As when observed there was a blast in the factory and that created a huge impact on the
life of the people in Bhopal as there was a leakage of about 3787 gases in the
environment and that has adversely affected the whole environment of the that area.
 After that incident happened there were about 8000 people died in a week with the
poisonous gas inhalation and also due to the explosion that has been raised.
 Government of Madhya pradesh has observed that their was the highest death rate in that
state and majorly was being from Bhopal due to that disaster.
 There was about 350 tonnes of harmful pesticides was being mixed with the air and that
resulted that most of the farming and all the things grazing was being affected. As it
made it variably that all the people who were being involve in farming were not being
able to posses as it created an impact on all the areas and companies that the chemicals
duly being mixed was creating a huge impact on all(Sidani, 2018). The soil was adversely
made with chemicals and that made that no farming was possible in that zone.
 Most of the people were being issued the problems of coughing, eye irritation,choking,
neurological disorders, weak immune system etc. this has been faced for several years
that all the individuals have recorded with most of the disease.
 Their was a low reproduction rate faced in bhopal as their has been made that several
women were not being able to conceive and their was major problems in the birth rate of
the children in that means time.
 The infants as due to breast feeding and due to inhaling the air were facing major issue
like they are being affected by the lungs problem and also sever disorders, because of this
there were so many children who had died just after being born.

Ethical Issues faced
When there has been seen the various ethical issues the main issue was the serious
malfunctioning of the company and there working was not being proper. When a companies
being channelised it is been majorly important that all the companies or the organisation should
tries to fix every problem with the proper ethics and morals(Sferrazzo, 2020).When their has
been seen the closure look of UCC their has been observed that company was not working in a
ethical manner.
UCC even after being well aware of the fact that all then workers being working in the factory
were not been properly guided there has not been mentioned any of the working, the workers
were facing a huge language barrier as many pf the workers don not know English and their
manual was being made in English. By the time their has been also observed that the supervisors
being working in the company has made it usual and has not taken their work in proper manner.
The UCIL even after knowing the hazard or the poisonous affect of the company has not made it
clear to the workers that it can affect the workers.
There was a huge claims and several petitions were being filed against the UCC and that
was being than made by the central government of India on behalf of all then individuals of
Bhopal. Their was a out of court settlement with approx 470- million being given to the people
affected.
There has been observed that all the companies should follow the proper guidelines in an
appropriate manner that it cannot affect the individual and also the environment. Even after
knowing the hazardous impact of the gas on the environment UCC has not taken certain steps
with morals and ethics in order ton make the company to work in an efficient manner(Surdam,
2020). This has resulted the death of several people in Bhopal. It is the major responsibility of all
the company that they should try to follow all the ethical dilemma that are important for the
working of the company with taking proper care and also should guide their employees in ethical
way.
Corporate social responsibility of UCC
Corporate social responsibility is mainly a business regulation that is been made in order
to contribute towards the societal goal of the company and also to volunteer the ethical practises
that are been important for all the organisation. It covers all the social responsibilities of the
organisation in order to make it work in a proper way(Zsolnai, and et. al., 2017). While

observing the ethical dilemma there has been seen that UCC has made various mistakes as they
has not followed all the ethical and has not maintained their social responsibilities which are
needed to be made. In all the various ethical norms their has been seen that UCC and UCIL has
adversely affected Bhopal as that tragedy has not just affected the life of the individuals over
their but also the environment was majorly affected. The company should have followed the
ethics and the major roles of the organisation by providing the companies and the organisation
better position in all ways. Their has also be noticed that the their was major carelessness from
their side and that majorly affected all the areas and also living standard of the people.
Thus, as CSR plays a major role in the development of a company their has been made
that all the companies has the corporate social responsibilities towards the environment and
towards the people and they should follow all the ethical dilemma which are being required in
all the methods being raised in working.
CONCLUSION
From this report it is concluded that, business ethics plays a major role in the working of
the company. Their has been seen that all the companies should follow the morals and also the
conducts that are needed in order to run an organisation. Their is also seen that corporate social
responsibility have an important impact on the corporation and it governs the methods that a
company should follow in order to make the production variably increased.
Furthermore, it is analysed that UCC has not followed the ethical norms and culture and
has created a huge disaster that has affected the whole nation.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aghamohammadi, and et. al., 2018. Typology of entrepreneur leaders’ commitment to business
ethics. Journal of Entrepreneurship Development, 11(3), pp.401-420.
Hill, A., 2017. Just business: Christian ethics for the marketplace. InterVarsity Press.
Magrizos, S., 2020. Teaching business ethics in a digital world. Journal of Global Responsibility.
Saiz-Alvarez, J.M., 2017. Entrepreneurial ICT-based skills and leadership for business ethics in
higher education. In Handbook of Research on Technology-Centric Strategies for
Higher Education Administration (pp. 373-392). IGI Global.
Sferrazzo, R., 2020. Towards an Agape-Based Organization: Does It Make Sense to Apply Civil
Economy to Business Ethics?. Business and Professional Ethics Journal, 39(2), pp.225-
251.
Sidani, Y., 2018. Business ethics in the Middle East. Routledge.
Surdam, D.G., 2020. Business Ethics from Antiquity to the 19th Century. Springer Books.
Zsolnai, and et. al., 2017, September. Business ethics for the Anthropocene. In TransAtlantic
Business Ethics Conference.