Skip to main content

The Use and Storage of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) at Bayer CropScience (2012) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:

2 Bhopal and Chemical Process Safety
Pages 31-42

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 31...
... Chapter 3 discusses the use of MIC at the Bayer CropScience facility in Institute, West Virginia. METHYL ISOCYANATE The UCIL facility in Bhopal, India was a manufacturing facility for carbamate pesticides that had a design similar to the plant in Institute, West Virginia, and it had been manufacturing MIC on site since 1980.
Read the entire page →
From page 32...
... local time, while many of the Bhopal residents were asleep, it was reported that a plant operator noticed a small MIC gas leak and increased gas pressure inside a storage tank. This leak and pressure were due to water that had entered the storage vessel.
Read the entire page →
From page 33...
... Acute psychological health effects included neuroses, anxiety, and adjustment reactions; and acute neurobehavioral effects reported and observed were impaired audio and visual memory, psychomotor coordination, reasoning and spatial coordination (Broughton, 2005)
Read the entire page →
From page 34...
... . Long-term reproductive health risks include increased spontaneous abortions, increased perinatal and neonatal mortality, menstrual cycle alterations, decreased placental weights, and increased chromosomal alterations (Beckett et al., 1998, Dhara and Dhara 2002, Mishra et al., 2009)
Read the entire page →
From page 35...
... An AIChE task force was formed in March 1985, and its members proposed initial objectives to establish guidelines for hazard evaluation procedures; guidelines for bulk storage, handling, and trans portation of toxic and/or reactive materials; and good plant operating procedures and training. As a result of these objectives, the AIChE Council officially approved the establishment of the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS)
Read the entire page →
From page 36...
... 1. Develop and maintain written safety information identifying work­ place chemical and process hazards, equipment used in the pro­ cesses, and technology used in the processes; 2.
Read the entire page →
From page 37...
... Establish maintenance systems for critical process­related equip­ ment, including written procedures, employee training, appropriate inspections, and testing of such equipment to ensure ongoing mechanical integrity; 12. Conduct pre­startup safety reviews of all newly installed or modi­ fied equipment; 13.
Read the entire page →
From page 38...
... Contract employers involved in maintenance, repair, turnaround, major renovation or specialty work, on or near covered pro­ cesses are required to train their employees to safely perform their jobs. The contract employers must document that employees received and understood training, and assure that contract employees know about potential process hazards and the work­site employer's emergency ac­ tion plan, assure that employees follow safety rules of the facility, and
Read the entire page →
From page 39...
... The employer also must inform contract employers of the known potential fire, explo­ sion, or toxic release hazards related to the contractor's work and the process; explain to contract employers the applicable provisions of the emergency action plan; develop and implement safe work practices to control the presence, entrance, and exit of contract employers and contract employees in covered process areas; evaluate periodically the performance of contract employers in fulfilling their obligations; and main­ tain a contract employee injury and illness log related to the contractor's work in the process areas. • Pre-startup safety review.
Read the entire page →
From page 40...
... • Trade secrets. Employers must make available all information neces­ sary to comply with PSM to those persons responsible for compiling the process safety information, those developing the process hazard analy­ sis, those responsible for developing the operating procedures, and those performing incident investigations, emergency planning and response, and compliance audits, without regard to the possible trade secret status of such information.
Read the entire page →
From page 41...
... Enhancement of Process Safety Knowledge are manifestations of another, less-well-defined legacy from Bhopal: the change in community and industry perceptions of hazardous and toxic materials and the risks they pose to personnel onsite and the local population surrounding chemical facilities. The effects of the MIC release in 1984 are still felt in Bhopal, India, and by the Dow Chemical Company, which purchased the facility from Union Carbide in 2001.
Read the entire page →
From page 42...
... 1985. The Report of the ICFTU-ICEF Mission to Study the Causes and Effects of the Methyl Isocyanate Gas Leak at the Union Carbide Pesticide Plant in Bhopal, India, on December 2-3-1984.
Read the entire page →

Key Terms

  • chemical process
  • methyl isocyanate
  • safety management
  • bhopal disaster
  • bayer cropscience

  • safety information
  • contract employers
  • process hazard
  • contract employees
  • emergency planning

  • union carbide
  • hazard analysis
  • occupational safety
  • bhopal incident
  • emergency action

  • management standard
  • health risks
  • workplace hazard
  • hazard assessment
  • written procedures

  • mic exposure
  • action plan
  • process hazards
  • written safety
  • safety standards

  • chemical engineers
  • emergency response
  • bhopal facility
  • hazard evaluation
  • health administration


    • This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
    More information on Chapter Skim is available.