CHAPTER 8: WITNESS PREPARATION

Event: Union Carbide Chemical Disaster, Bhopal, India Date: 3 December 1984 Summary: Methyl isocyanate leaked out of the plant and into the camp and town nearby. Some reports said the accident was caused by sabotage, and others suggested that workers had gone on a long tea break after hearing multiple and confusing alarms. The American CEO was arrested when he went to India. The companys sister plant in Institute, West Virginia had a highly publicized leak some months later. A flock of lawyers went to the scene to initiate lawsuits and seek clients, as often happens at crisis. As many as half a million Indians claimed damages, about half of whom provided no physical evidence. Three quarters of the claims came from areas the Indian government did not designate as affected by the event. Result: Perhaps 4,000 dead and 11,000 injured. Lessons Learned: Your crisis may occur thousands of miles away from your head office. There may be rumours about the causes for years afterwards. Having the CEO or chair go to the site is not always the best approach. The shanty town around the plant may have grown up because plant officials installed a pipe providing potable water as a humanitarian gesture. Note the hubris and irony of the release at Union Carbides plant in Institute, West Virginia some months after, even though company officials had stated that a similar accident couldnt happen there. That leak sent 135 area residents to hospital and injured six workers.

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an ounce of prevention

chapter 8: witness preparation

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