ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS OF THE DEADLIEST ACCIDENT IN HUMAN HISTORY
You may never have heard of Bhopal, India. Many people have not, despite the fact that the worst accident in history happened there.
In the early morning hours of Dec 3, 1984, a large toxic gas release spread across Bhopal from a Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant.
About 500,000 people downwind were exposed. Thousands of them died.
I was an employee of Union Carbide at the time. I’ve read extensively about the accident. I have visited Bhopal. I’ve walked through the neighborhoods around the plant and through the old abandoned plant itself. I’ve touched the tank where the reaction occurred; a surreal experience.
Thirty-four years on questions remain about what happened. It is very difficult to study an accident of this magnitude because so many people had/have vested interests in crafting the story.