Understanding global security - Peter Hough

ACCIDENTAL THREATS TO SECURITY
Industrial accidents
Most clearly associated with modern living is industrialization, which is itself
associated with far more hazardous forms of employment and production than preindustrial
economic activity. Table 9.3 illustrates that, like structural disasters, major
industrial disasters can be prevented. Most of the disasters listed occurred in
countries in the early stages of industrialization and economic development.
Table 9.3 The world’s worst industrial disasters
Place Date Type No. killed
1 Bhopal, India 1984 Chemical leak approx. 2500
2 Hineiko, China1942 Mining disaster (explosion) 1549 a, b
3 Nigeria1998 Oil pipeline fire 1082 b
4 Courrieres, France 1906 Mining disaster (explosion) 1060 a, b
5 Chelyabinsk, USSR 1989 Gas pipeline explosion 607 b
6 Oppau, Germany 1921 Chemical plant explosion 600 b
7 Texas, USA 1947 Ship carrying fertilizer exploded
in port
561 b
8 Mexico City 1984 Petroleum gas plant explosion 540 a
9 Cubatao, Brazil 1984 Petroleum plant fire 508 b
10 Lagunillas, Venezuela 1939 Oil refinery fire 500 a
Note: Excludes disasters instigated by natural phenomena, military strikes, or military accidents.
As examples of a natural phenomenon, lightning strikes caused explosions of arsenals in Rhodes,
Greece in 1856 and in Brescia, Italy in 1769, claiming around 4000 and 3000 lives respectively (Ash
2001: 215). Dambursts are also excluded. Notable examples of military accidents include the explosion
at an ammunition dump in Lucknow, India in 1935 which killed 2000, the explosion of the ammunition
ship Mont Blanc after collision near Halifax, Canada in 1917 which killed 1963, and the explosion of
ammunition trucks in Cali, Colombia in 1956 which killed 1200 (Ash 2001: 215). a Ash (2001),
b
CRED (2003).
The world’s worst ever industrial accident occurred at Bhopal, India on
3 December 1984. During the production of the pesticide Carbaryl the Union Carbide
plant accidentally released 40 tonnes of the highly toxic chemical methyl-isocyanate
(MIC) used in the production process. At least 2500 people living near the plant were
killed and around 180,000 other people have since suffered from a range of long-term
health effects and birth defects.
As an intermediate chemical, MIC did not feature on the world’s foremost safety
inventory of the time, UNEP’s International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals,
and the Indian authorities were unaware that it was being stored. Investigations
proved that safety standards in the plant were weak and that previous fatal accidents
had occurred. Years of legal wrangling following the accident have seen Union
Carbide pay $470M to the Indian government in an out-of-court settlement and
600,000 Indian citizens claim compensation.
According to Dudley, at a 1986 ‘Chemistry After Bhopal’ conference organized
by the chemical industry, a spokesman likened the disaster to the sinking of the
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