Group Company: Safe and Secure Construction sdn bhd
Our group is doing Case Study on the Chemical Dumping in Sungai Kim Kim’s Pasir Gudang and the Union Carbide’s plant in Bhopal. Both cases above involved on the ethical issue towards chemical substance. To understand further regarding the case study on the chemical dumping in Sungai Kim Kim, our group went and interview the firefighter who was on duty during the incident.
For the Case Study regarding the Chemical dumping in Sungai Kim Kim in Pasir Gudang, it was reported that the chemical waste was being dumped under a bridge connecting Taman Pasir Putih and Taman Kota Masai. Although the chemical waste was initially just thrown into the river, once the water in the river begins to evaporate, the evaporate gas will turn into chemical gas. Because of this, about 5, 848 victims both adults and children were affected by the chemical waste. Upon further inspection, one of the chemicals found in the chemical waste was benzene and methane which were highly flammable chemical. Based on the investigation, the police have currently managed to arrest around 9 suspects. In order to cut cost in dumping the chemical waste, the upper management of the company ignore the proper SOP for chemical dumping and use an alternative of throwing the chemical waste in the river instead. Aside from this, it also shows how the CEO of the company abuses his power by ordering his employers to dump the chemical waste in Sungai Kim Kim instead of dumping the chemical waste the proper way.
On the other hand, for the case study of the Union Carbide’s plant in Bhopal, a tank contained 10,000 gallons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) had leaked and had sent a toxic cloud of gas over the slums of Bhopal, resulting in the death of over 2,000 people, and injuries to over 200,000 more. The gas leakage was reported due to water that had been accidentally added to the MIC making the chemical to heat up and produce a chemical gas. Although the tragedy occurred was due to an accident, upon further investigation it was determined that the tank containing the MIC itself was faulty. In other words, this incident might be avoidable if the tank functioned as it was supposed to. Hence, from the case study, it shows the common issue with the hazard and toxic contamination industry who is always trying to compete in the Global Market in order to fulfill their own benefit and profit while2 ignoring the quality and safety of their equipment and working environment.