Telling the People Who May Be Affected

In one line

The people who live beside a hazardous plant are entitled to be told what the hazard is and what to do about it, and that is the whole of their entitlement.

In the wording a student can write in an examination: rule 15 of the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules 1989 requires the occupier to take appropriate steps to inform persons outside the site, either directly or through the District Emergency Authority, who are likely to be in an area which may be affected by a major accident, about the nature of the major accident hazard and about the safety measures and the do's and don'ts which should be adopted in the event of a major accident; rule 16 provides that where the concerned authority discloses information notified under rule 5 or rules 7 to 15 to another person for the purpose of evaluating it, that person shall not use it for any other purpose and shall be informed of that obligation before the disclosure; and rule 17 provides for the collection, development and dissemination of information relating to hazardous chemicals.

Why a right to know exists at all

Because at Bhopal nobody outside the plant knew what was stored, what it did, or what to do about it. Doctors did not know the antidote. Residents ran towards the gas rather than away from it. The information that would have saved lives existed inside the fence and did not cross it.

Every industrial right to know provision in the world, including this one, is an answer to that problem, and the answer has two limbs: tell people what the hazard is, and tell them what to do.

Rule 15, taken apart

The occupier shall take appropriate steps. Not shall inform. Appropriate steps, which is a standard, and its content depends on the size of the population and the nature of the hazard.

To inform persons outside the site. Outside. The people inside are dealt with by rule 13, which requires every person on the site affected by the on-site plan to be informed of its relevant provisions.

Either directly or through the District Emergency Authority. Two routes. A factory beside a village may inform directly; a plant beside a town of a lakh will do it through the district administration.

Who are likely to be in an area which may be affected by a major accident. The area is defined by the consequence analysis in the safety report, so the extent of the duty depends on the size of the credible worst case.

About the nature of the major accident hazard. What is stored, what it does, how it can escape.

And the safety measures and the do's and don'ts which should be adopted in the event of a major accident. Stay indoors or leave. Cover the face with a wet cloth or do not. Go upwind. Where to assemble.