Gauley Bridge and Bhopal Disasters

Gauley Bridge and Bhopal DisastersThe Gauley Bridge DisasterThe Hawks Nets Tunnel was being built near Gauley Bridge in West Virginia, and during that quantify, c fall asleep to five century trifleers died from silicosis, and about one cat valium five degree centigrade contracted the complaint (Lobo, 2012). The tunnels construction began in the 1930s, and it required the contractors to blast and drill by dint of dickens mountains near the Gauley Bridge. During the period of construction, in the 1930s, African Americans were still dominated by whites, and to a greater extent than eighty percent of the workers were blacks (McCulloch Tweedale, 2014). The workers were also not union members (Lobo, 2012), which business leader have made their labor cheap and exposing them to exploitation. The excavation took place during the time of the great depression when unemployment rates were high, and people, especially blacks, would do both work to earn a living. Most likely, racism pla yed a spot role in the neglect of the workers recourse and health when they were drilling through the mountains.The African workers were supervised with armed white men (McCulloch Tweedale, 2014). As a result of being exposed to silicon oxide, which originated from the excavation, hundreds of workers dieed silicosis due to a buildup of silica particles in the lungs. Silicosis is a dreadful disease that permanently affects the lungs, devising it lose its functionality gradually, which eventually leads to death (Lobo, 2012). The contractors responsible for the building of the tunnel never took any preventive measures to plug that workers worked under safe conditions. However, the mountains contain high levels of silica, which is actually virulent. The death of about five hundred employees and infection of one super C five hundred more could have been prevented if the contractors active standard safety measures such(prenominal) as wearing respirators to avoid inhaling silica . Since the incident, regulations that require workers to use safety-related equipment are enforced by institutions such as National form for Occupational Safety, which is dedicated to how to prevent silicosis and how to identify symptoms (Lobo, 2012). Also, today some unions and laws ensure the rights and safety of workers are not compromised.The Bhopal DisasterIn late 1984, a pesticide factory known as Union Carbide experienced a outpouring of about forty metric tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC), a actually deadly gas (Yang, Khan, Amyotte, 2015). The incident occurred in Bhopal, India, and at least iv thousand people were killed immediately after the gas had leaked. The actual dactyl is not precise because the government, activists, and independent bodies have different estimations. More than half a million residents were exposed to the deadly gas, and more than twenty-five thousand people have died up to date due to exposure to the toxic gas and pollution of the environment (Yang, Khan, Amyotte, 2015). Also, thousands of animals died, their dead bodies littered the streets (Yang, Khan, Amyotte, 2015). The main do of the gas included choking, burning eyes, breathing difficulties, and frothing at the mouth. other(a) people died from being trampled on by other people as everyone was confused and running for their lives.The massive leakage of MIC was caused by several violations of lay out procedures, negligence of internal leaks, and flaws in design (Goh, Tan, Lai, 2015). According to personnel who were employed at the factory, the management never took health and safety seriously. The site has been describe to still contain high levels of MIC (Yang, Khan, Amyotte, 2015). Soil and water bodies were also contaminated, and up to date, children are born with defects such as brain damage and wriggle limbs. Since the Bhopal disaster, the judiciary took an active role in protecting the environment (Goh, Tan, Lai, 2015). Laws such as the Factories Act were passed to ensure that industries followed international and national standards, as swell up as understanding the guess involves and how they can be mitigated or prevented.Two Other Similar Stories Russias Chernobyl and Chinas JilinThe explosion at a atomic power plant in Chernobyl, Russia in 1986 released radioactive material that was more than four hundred times stronger than that released in Hiroshima (Cardis et al., 2006). The effects of the extreme radiation therapy are still present as children are born with defects, develop cancer, and several other health issues. Studies suggest that the radioactive material inevitably at least two hundred years to wear off, making the environment safe for people (Cardis et al., 2006). In November 2005, the Jilin chemical plant in china exploded and resulted to the death of six workers and dozens were injured (Fu, W., Fu, H., Sktt, Yang, 2008). The explosions polluted the river, which has led to reduced white cells amongst the res idents, leading to leukemia. Additionally, it is estimated that over one hundred thousand people are likely to develop cancer (Fu, W., Fu, H., Sktt, Yang, 2008). For both incidents, safety standards were improved to ensure that such an incident does not go back itself.ReferencesCardis, E., Howe, G., Ron, E., Bebeshko, V., Bogdanova, T., Bouville, A., Drozdovitch, V. (2006). Cancer consequences of the Chernobyl accident 20 years on. Journal of radiological protection, 26(2), 127.Fu, W., Fu, H., Sktt, K., Yang, M. (2008). exemplar the spill in the Songhua River after the explosion in the petrochemical plant in Jilin. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 15(3), 178.Goh, Y. M., Tan, S., Lai, K. C. (2015). Learning from the Bhopal disaster to improve make for safety management in Singapore. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 97(1), 102-108.Lobo, J. (2012). From The appropriate of the Dead to Gauley Bridge Muriel Rukeysers Documentary Poetics and Film at the Cro ssroads of the best-selling(predicate) Front. Journal of Modern Literature, 35(3), 77-102.McCulloch, J., Tweedale, G. (2014). Anthony J. Lanza, Silicosis and the Gauley Bridge Nine. Social History of Medicine, 27(1), 86-103.Yang, M., Khan, F., Amyotte, P. (2015). Operational risk assessment A case of the Bhopal disaster. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 97(4), 70-79.