The Ghosts of Bhopal

On the 31st anniversary of the Bhopal Gas Disaster, and with the post Bhopal generation of Chemical Engineers now managing Chemical plants, let us remind ourselves that the Ghosts of Bhopal are still around. We continue to see compromises in process safety management leading to catastrophic accidents.

• For a new generation who have grown up with ISO and PSM systems, remind yourself that systems alone cannot prevent accidents. 
• You must not be deaf and blind to what the systems are telling you. 
• You must also speak up and not be mute when you observe process safety issues. 
• Do not forget the lessons from the past. 
• For people at the highest level in the organization, do not get lulled into a false sense of security just because nothing has happened. 
• Actively seek out bad news...remember the ghosts of Bhopal are still around, waiting to give you a scare....

An example of the Ghosts of Bhopal is the recent CSB incident investigation report of the Caribbean Petroleum Tank terminal explosion and multiple fires released by CSb in October 2015.
CSB finds that systemic failures at CAPECO included: (The highlighted failures are the same failures that happened in Bhopal)

1. A history of poorly maintaining terminal operations;
2. An inherent financial pressure to fill the tanks within the Planning Department’s stipulated time, which was at odds with safety;
3. A failure to learn from previous overfill incidents at the facility;
4. A lack of preventative maintenance for the malfunctioning float and tape device, automatic tank gauge transmitters;
5. An unreliable computer for calculating tank fill times;
6. A lack of overfill prevention safeguards as an independent alarm;
7. A lack of formal procedures for tank-filling operations for operators and managers;
8. An insufficient mechanical integrity program for safety critical equipment;
9. Poor adherence to human factors principles for safety critical equipment.

I also managed to locate a Dec 31, 1984 article on the Bhopal Gas Disaster written in India Today. Read it in this link.

Read an eyewitness account of a IIT professor who was travelling by train at Bhopal station when the disaster occurred in this link 

Remind your employees, including top management that the ghosts of Bhopal are still around by organizing a process safety week from December 2nd every year
 
Contribute to the surviving victims of Bhopal by buying my book "Practical Process Safety Management"