And How Chemical Process Safety and Chemical Incident Response has evolved…

On December 2nd, 1984 a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India leaked a dense cloud of toxic gas that blanketed the region and exposed over a half million men, women, and children to hazardous chemicals. After killing almost 4,000 people in just the first few days, the toxic cloud went on to leave over 40,000 more people partially or permanently disabled. Forty years after the disaster many are still suffering from the aftermath, and Bhopal is considered one of the world’s worst industrial disasters. This incident helped propel the lack of uniformity and standards in chemical process safety and chemical incident response as a global issue.

While Bhopal serves as a tragic reminder of the potential danger associated with the handling, storage, and processing of toxic chemicals, it also serves as a tremendous learning experience for the entire industry. In response to this incident, SAFER Systems^® developed algorithms that led to the first live chemical release monitoring and chemical dispersion modeling system. SAFER Systems^® solutions connect to live meteorological, gas sensor, and topographical data to monitor, model and mitigate chemical gas releases in real-time. Learning from Bhopal, SAFER Systems^® has been able to address crucial pain points in any facility’s monitoring and dynamic modeling of toxic gas releases.

The Bhopal disaster also demonstrated the crucial role in collaboration and communication during emergency chemical incidents, during and immediately after the release surrounding communities and first responders were unaware of the dangers they were about to encounter. SAFER Systems^®‘ is working tirelessly to bring mobile solutions, remote user access capabilities and allow users to share information across platform. As technology catches up with the needs of the chemical processing industry, SAFER Systems^® will continue to innovate ways to continuously improve chemical safety planning and emergency response.

After 40 years, the Bhopal disaster is still on the minds of industrial safety professionals around the world and serves as a constant reminder about the importance of chemical process safety and chemical incident response. The tragedy helped highlight the many shortcomings in motoring, modeling and mitigating emergency chemical incidents. Most of all it helped highlight the impact that companies can have on not only their facility but the surrounding environment and communities and the responsibility they have in keeping their facilities SAFER!

Contact SAFER Systems^® today to learn more about our patented software and how it can help ensure the safety of your employees and your community.