What the Bhopal and Texas City accidents had in common, and ways we can improve

The Bhopal accident in 1984 was the worst process industry disaster of all time. It was not an act of greed, sabotage, or incompetence. There are surprising similarities between that accident, BP Texas City, and many others. This presentation will review both accidents, how many of the issues were not unique to those facilities, and how the same issues can be observed at many facilities today. More recent realization of the complexity of modern industrial processes, and the organizations responsible for designing, building, running, and maintaining them, has resulted in a broader understanding of accident causation, and what can be done to try and prevent further incidents. This presentation will review the previous thinking process and recommendations (which have not been very helpful in preventing other accidents) and offer an alternative approach and recommendations.