The Bhopal Gas incident, 1987 was one of the most horrendous industrial disasters that humanity has ever witnessed. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy today stands out as the stark example of industrial negligence and corporate irresponsibility. In the aftermath of this incident, amendments in laws pertaining to industries and their modus operandi became imperative. One of the legislations that witnessed various amendments was the Factories Act of 1948 so to address the existing gaps in safety, health and environmental standards with respect to factories. The article aims to highlight the amendments done in Factories Act after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy in order to prevent such debacle in future. The article also strives to highlight that how there is a still way to go to achieve comprehensive security and assurances against industrial disasters.

Backdrop of the Incident
On night of December 2-3, 1984, the Union Carbide pesticide plant leaked methyl isocyanate gas that resulted in the immediate death of more than 3,800 people and led more than 500,000 people injured. The International Labour Organisation in its report stated that at least 30 tons of methyl isocyanate gas was released from the Union Carbide plant resulting in more than 600,000 people getting affected. Government of India filed a case against the Union Carbide. Investigations concluded that the main reason behind the tragedy was the production of poisonous gas due to water getting mixed with MIC. Union Carbide decided for the settlement and accepted to pay 470 million dollars in compensation to the victims of this catastrophe.

Amendments in the Factories Act 1948

The court held in Ravi Shankar Sharma v State of Rajasthan that Factories Act of 1948 is a social legislation aims to cover health, safety and occupational standards of workers. Following the catastrophic incident of Bhopal, several significant amendments were made to the Act in 1987, specifically targeting stringent regulations of hazardous chemicals and processes within industrial settings. This led to the addition of entirely new chapter, Chapter IV A, which was dedicated to effectively manage hazardous processes within the factories. Following are the few provisions introduced by the 1987 amendment in response to the lessons learned from the catastrophe for preventing and mitigating industrial mishaps to safeguard lives.

Right of Workers to Warn About Imminent Danger:

It is pertinent to note that the leakage of the gas was sensed by workers working in the Union Carbide plant much before the actual disaster took place. The workers then informed the supervisor about the same, but no heed was paid by the supervisor. After around 2 hours, the gas spread all over the area resulting in massive casualties. To ensure that this negligence is not repeated again Section 41 H was added in the Factories Act which states that if the workers working in factory have reasonable apprehension that there is a likelihood of imminent danger to their lives or health due to any accident, they may bring the same to the notice of the occupier, agent, manager or any other person who is in charge of the factory or the process concerned directly or through their representatives in the Safety Committee and simultaneously bring the same to the notice of the Inspector.

Awareness of the Work Done:

The Factories (Amendment) Act, 1987, requires "occupiers" of every factory involving a hazardous process shall disclose in the manner prescribed all information regarding dangers, including health hazards and the measures to overcome such hazards arising from the exposure to or handling of the materials or substances in the manufactures, transportation, storage and other processes, to the workers employed in the factory, the Chief Inspector, the local authority within whose jurisdiction the factory is situate and the general public in the vicinity. With regard to this provision, it is worth acknowledging that when workers which survived the catastrophe were interviewed, many accepted that they underestimated the toxicity of the methyl isocyanate gas. Furthermore, most of the workers informed that they haven't even read or "understood" the Union Carbide technical manual for MIC. This amendment ensured that workers acknowledge the awareness of the work which they are doing in the factory.

Location of the Plant:

The location of the plant was also put in question. According to the guidelines, specifically pesticides and chemicals factory should be 25 kms away from the nearest city. However, the plant was just around 3 kms away from two major hospitals and a km away from a hospital. To ensure the plant is located at around the apt place the section 41 A of the Amendment act provided for the provision of appointing a Site Appraisal Committee for advisory on the initial location of the factory involving a hazardous process or for the expansion of factory.

Provision of Safety Committee:

The amendment act ensures that in every factory where hazardous activity takes place, a safety committee should be set-up consisting of equal number of representatives of workers and management to promote co-operation and review the measures taken in regard to ensure safety standards. The "equal" representation of workers as that of management would promote workers to firmly voice their views and opinions with regard to health and safety standards which they deem fit to be taken into account. Although this is an applaudable step which aims to increase the representation of workers to ensure their safety, the awareness of workers needs to be taken into account. They should be well informed about their agendas and proposals that they could put on the table to uplift their social position.

Permissible Limits of exposure to chemicals:

Second Schedule of the amended act provide for the permissible limits of exposure to chemicals and toxic substances in manufacturing process. This ensures that the exposure of the hazardous chemicals in the air of workplace does not exceed the permissible limit. To ensure that the permissible concentration limit is not crossed, the factory must monitor and keep a check on the air quality. Failing to comply may result in legal consequences. The second schedule also include methyl isocyanate as the toxic substance and limits it to 0.02 ppm & 0.05 mg/m3 (time-weighted average concentration).

Prohibition of employment on account of serious hazard:

By virtue of Sec 87 A of the Amendment Act, if it appears to the inspector that conditions in a factory may result in serious hazard by way of injury or death of person employed or general public in vicinity, then the inspector may by order in writing to the occupier of the factory state the reasons that how the factory may cause serious hazard and prohibit the occupier from employing any person other than minimum number required to run minimum tasks till hazard is removed. This is a much fruitful provision as it covers and safeguards the interest of people employed and public in the vicinity of the industrial set-up. To ensure the adequate implementation of this provision, rigorous inspection and an apt set up to keep a check is required.

Deterrent Effect:

In the Chapter X of the Amended Act penalties for the violation of the act has been significantly increased. The increase in penalties helps in creating a deterrent effect and ensuring that the provisions of inspection and pertinent implementation are met. The court in the Bhopal Gas judgment added on the same view and stated that the larger and more prosperous the enterprise is, the greater must be the amount of compensation payable by it.

Suggestions
The amendments to the Factories Act following the Bhopal Gas Tragedy are significant and require rigorous implementation to be effective. The Act mandates that workers be informed about the nature of their work; however, it lacks provisions for the necessary training of these workers. Without proper training and comprehensive information, the amended provisions aimed at ensuring the "health and safety of workers" risk becoming mere formalities without practical impact.

Furthermore, the absence of mandatory national standards under the Factories Act results in inconsistent and often weak regulatory standards across states. The National Commission on Labour has criticized the implementation of the Factories Act as "inadequate, unsatisfactory, and delayed."

The amendments to the Factories Act after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy are quite notable and require pertinent implementation for its success. The Act mandates that workers be informed about the nature of their work; however, no provision of the act calls for the necessary training of these workers.

Without proper training and information, the amended provisions aimed at ensuring "health and safety of workers" are nothing but the dead letters without functionality. Moreover, the lack of mandatory national standards under the Factories Act results in inconsistent and often weak regulatory standards across states. The National Commission on Labour has criticized the implementation of the Act to be "inadequate, unsatisfactory, and delayed".

Advocate Anil Divan, who appeared for Union Carbide before Supreme Court in the Bhopal Case proposed the essentiality of adequate buffer zones and to not to permit any business activities around the industrial area. He also emphasised that rules should be made to prevent people settle in the vicinity of the industry so to avoid fatality. around getting affect in case of any accidents.