The investigation of large-magnitude incidents is fraught with difficulties and the process of establishing the primary cause of an incident often requires an understanding of human nature in addition to the necessary technical and engineering skills. The salient non-technical features that are common to the investigation of large-magnitude events are discussed in general. The investigation of the Bhopal disaster is discussed as a specific case study in light of these salient features. The results of the overall investigation are discussed and it is demonstrated that the commonly-held view that water-washing of a certain header caused the disaster is physically impossible. Evidence is presented which indicates that direct water entry into the methyl isocyanate storage tank was the likely initiating cause of the Bhopal disaster. click here to read more
