I though that your references were all about the ammonia production industry?
But yes, there are an industry that has a worse record for “cost cutting, accidents, environmental disasters and a nonchalant disregard for health and safety” than both the ammonia and the international shipping industry.
Many here may guess which industry I’m talking about. (??)
Chinese steel probably hasn’t produced enough environmental disasters outside of china to qualify, but those casually accepted accidents… I’d hesitate before I search too much for ‘chinese steel worker accidents’.
For disregard for human safety I think Pfizer has the biggest criminal fine for false claims. But big pharma and the medical industry in general has a terrible track record for this. (just the stats on deaths from medical errors - like wrongly prescribed drugs)
probably world wide environmental disasters I’d lean towards shipping, war industry, or energy/petrol. Sort of a mixed bag… but you can consider the commercial tonnage sank in WW2 alone and how much oil that were in the tankers or bunkers. Although chinese coal and chemical industries have literally made entire rivers and regions uninhabitable for fish/bugs.
combo of all 3… I’d give the winner probably to energy/petrol (especially if you include shipping/transport of energy/petrol). Too many refineries, rigs, and power plants regularly blow up. (or flip over in the case of rigs) If you include chemical industry that uses petrol then it is even worse. That being said, it is one of the largest industries so I’d give it some slack and would expect it to have a lot of industrial accidents since it is so widely present. However, even 1st world countries seem to allow mistakes in these systems that should never ever happen. Sometimes due to incompetency in the crew, other times by incompetency of the designers; but ultimately they were deemed competent by ownership or license; perhaps because true competency would be too expensive?
I was thinking of the Offshore Oil & Gas industry, where I have spent much of my working life.
More specifically in the “cowboy days” when it first went worldwide.
My first involvement was with a “Bayou company” in SE Asia in1970. I found it too “wild east” and left after 3 months, but got back in during the shipping crisis in 1974. This time as freelance Rig mover, Consultant and MWS. I never left before retirement (1974-2016).
Standard of the equipment, safety culture, education and training has improved a lot, especially in the last couple of decades, but not without resistance from certain parts of the industry.
Nobody cares about sick or permanently injured engineers, obviously.
Easy for guys looking out window, sitting in cubicles, or work-from-home-in-underwear to force the working man that keeps the ship moving to now use a highly toxic fuel on shitty ships that are never maintained properly with leaks everywhere. But it’s all good, because MUH GREEnzZZ powAR!
