ABSTRACT
Industrial hazards, like natural disasters can be understood in terms of their occurrence in time and place, how they affect social units and how these units take responsive actions to mitigate disaster consequences. To some extent the causes of industrial crisis in developing countries may be rooted in the rapid pace of industrialisation following independence from their former colonial rulers. Between the years 1960 to 1982 most developing countries showed a significant increase in their GDP derived from Industrial activities [1] with the transfer of technology being determined by intergovernmental contracts and multinational corporations. Such technology transfers brought new investments, jobs but only in localised urban areas, whilst the masses remained relatively unaffected in rural areas. The necessary infrastructure to support these technologies for a sustainable development could not keep up with these developments due to chronic fiscal problems and policy and planning failures. The quality of the infrastructure eg. water, energy, public health systems, transportation, communications, educational institutions and the labour force all influence the probability of the occurrance of accidents and also the escalation into a crisis.
This paper will discuss the discrepancies in perception of the major players in identifying and assessing the causes of two industrial accidents one chemical, the Bhopal tragedy [2,3] and the other due to a fire at a nuclear power plant. These accidents, exemplify many issues pertaining to the decision making processes of the different participants involved in the process of mitigating circumstances in developing countries.
