This incident was quite complex, but the operators did better that 95% of the other CSB videos: they identified the problem, and accumulating issues, and tried to resolve them. It only took a few mistakes for this accident to happen.
... no, they did not do well at all. MeSH has boiling point of 5gradC... therefore it was certain, that a significant part of the MeSH will evaporate during the "defrosting" procedure - and the operators knew, that the only place for it to escape was the vent system - which obviously (from how the rest of the story unfolds) vents to atmosphere - not to a scrubber or a flare! Moreover, everybody involved was incredibly lucky, that this all happened in winter. If it had happened during the summer, when the temperature of the process water was much higher, the water, that entered the piping in the first place would not form the hydrate, but flow into the storage tank, where it would have evaporated significant part of the MeSH inventory. This would have had likely ruptured the storage tank, or the piping, leading to massive release of MeSH - due to its toxicity, this would have been an US version of bhopal...
It all began with incomplete isolation of the reactor. The next and deadly mistake was leaving a supply pump on even though they didn't want anything supplied (tell me how that could happen - i mean that's like leaving a foot on the accelerator while in park)
And again it was human error that caused the accident. The two brothers died needlessly because they ignored basic safety principles of not rushing into an unknown situation with out assessing the risk much like an attendant entering a confined space to rescue the worker inside instead of calling for help from trained responders.
@@chloralhydrate does that system vent to the atmosphere? if the feed line was connected to the vent system at all, the vent system must be designed to deal with the chemical in that feed line. the gas was released when they tried to drain liquid from the vent system, which the video says is standard procedure, but it's also implied that liquid shouldn't be in the vent system at all. if the issue of liquid in the vent system was dealt with before the situation with the blockages, they would have noticed "hey there's liquid in our vent system, where did that come from?" rather than just going to drain it
5:23 wow! Look at the detail and accuracy on that white railroad tank car! I'm a model railroader and I'm telling you they've captured everything, the air hoses, the grab iron ladder rungs, the curvature of the coupler lift bar, the air brake reservoir cylinder. I can't believe they can achieve this level of detail for a brief background object!
These animations are used in the investigation so they HAVE to get every last detail, in another video they said that they even have to get even the smallest details like how a chain on a valve was hanging, or what direction a padlock was facing.
Methylmercaptan is the stinky chemical found in lots of stuff, from skunk secretions to rotting organic matter. It's typically mixed with natural gas as an odourant for easy detection of leaks giving that characteristic "pungeant gas" smell Makes it all the more tragic that 4 people died suffocating on it though, what a terrible way to go
As someone who was nocturnal for thirty years, I beg to differ, but I understand what you mean. Companies forcing diurnal people to work at night is always a disaster waiting to happen.
I had a friend working there as a technical staff member. After the accident they began work on corrective actions but DuPont decided to shut it down. They came into work one day and were laid off with basically no warning, but hey, economics always rule. A few things not really mentioned in this video was fatigue and pressure from leaders to get the unit up and making pounds. It is very easy to lose situational awareness when many things are not going as planned. Add in fatigue, which is a major factor affecting shift workers. One question that should have been raised is what was the composition of the fluids that were routinely drained from the vent header prior to this tragedy. Did it have a history of having methyl mercaptan in it? If not, the operators could have become conditioned to not expecting that concentration of the chemical.
yep agree, seen it to often, targets, bonuses, promotion, and goodie too shoes bum lickers. Its all rush rush rush, pay less less less. Cut corners these days is like using this shavings as resources are none. Chemical factories that do not have remote controlled shut of valves these days and sealled hazmat areas/room for escape and panic buttons, no wonder these branded companies make so much money ! Shift changes, no one goes home until the emergency is cleared and the safety team say so. Communication and resources will get lost if not, Commumication is the major factor in accidents. 2nd is resources. 3rd is the company saving money on safety aspects, (cutting corners) 4th human error 5th computer programed wrong by a human,
Re: things not really mentioned in this video was fatigue and pressure from leaders to get the unit up Yeah, and that's the part of this "investigation" that doesn't get mentioned in any of these otherwise excellent videos. If fatigue and overwork were factors, then the executives with the huge stock options should go to jail.
working through a shift change instead of leaving it the next day for the same team to finish the job seems to be a re-occurring human factor in these accidents. These companies never want to wait a day.
isn't that the issue almost always either a closed valve leads to a weaker component breaking open, a closed valve leads to contents redirecting to unintended locations, or valves are left open in error
This one made me grateful that I'm a programmer - I essentially make mistakes like this all the time due to the complexity of the systems I work on, yet there is often very little real-world consequence other than maybe a disgruntled user. I have empathy for the engineers and technicians who worked on this, esp in regards to their mistake in keeping that valve open. It seems in this case there wasn't really a disregard to safety so much as an engineering mistake.
Safety was disregarded multiple times, I cringed super hard at least 5 different times. The biggest one was the poorly designed vent system which they didn’t fix they just lived with and ignored alarms in. The other big cringe was closing the valve to the reactor and then walking off when they almost had the blockage cleared
software engineer - if you run some production online service then you know how having a system downtime is like being in active warzone repairing a broken down tank under artillery shelling. not to mention having a critical security hole found in your supply chain somewhere
I work in plants/refineries and Ive always hated shift change. I think any job started must be finished by the shift that started it. Meaning- No handing off of jobs. That would cut incidents in half. I was working around this DuPont the year this happened and I cant remember hearing about this...
Lots of air accidents have happened because one shift didn’t tell the next shift what work had and hadn’t been done. Excellent point in many industries.
I wanna be the guy who goes into the toxic clouds past dead people and turns off the thingy. I bet that guy gets paid and I'm already emotionally fucked up from home invasion gone wrong type shit so I can walk past some dead people in an HEV suit and turn things off if I get dental coverage. Like 90% of it is just driving quick to wherever at some unlikely time. It just sounds like okay work.
I'm a retired industrial union painter, and I never did like working inside chemical companies. I worked in several plant's in Louisville KY area called Rubbertown. It's amazing a very bad accident never happened there. Rusty old pipes, and storage tanks. All of them also had loading and unloading facilities on the Ohio River.
At first when I saw this new form of video it was a bit more of a departure from their normal presentation, I didn't really care for it, but now I really dig it. I love these videos, it's like a little mystery video, not to mention the information and animation are very detailed and clear to understand.
States of flux are almost always the most dangerous ones in any process unit. Coming up, or going down are fraught with potential problems you just dont deal with daily. Its really a shame this is the way lessons are often learned.
I really enjoy learning about safety in industrial facilities from CSB. The animations are amazing. It's awful the tragedies that have occurred, but I am thankful that we have organizations like the CSB to investigate what went wrong so others, like myself, can learn what to watch out for in our own facilities.
The narrator needs to be hired for Forensic Files III.... his voice is so soothing! And the animators..... wow, yall are getting reeeeeally good at this!
My goodness. That was a complicated set of failures. I appreciate the CSB for making a 3D model that seemed quite accurate of the processing units and the animations they made to show the flow of Methyl Mercaptan and Hot Water. This is good to keep in mind, I think a lesson could be learned to evaluate where the flow will relieve too if the liquid expands and flows from the pipe into the vent header. And another lesson would be to have proper drain points or knock out pots, so liquid does not build up in the vent header.
I love these videos because they have the natural consequence of raising workplace safety awareness. Remember folks, you always have the right to refuse unsafe work.
From what I have read methomyl is produced by producing first an intermediate oxime, usually methylthiomethyl oxime, and then reacting it with methyl isocyanate. I believe the production of the intermediate using methyl mercaptan is unique to DuPont.
PPE is the last line of defense. Before that are hazard elimination, hazard substitution, engineering controls, and administrative controls. Workers should never have been required to vent pipes connected to process lines into the building, especially with acutely toxic chemicals in use.
Methylmercaptane is also used for giving natural gas the gas odor most everyone is familiar with. I got a whiff of the stuff by just standing next to a tank of it in a plant, and could almost taste it at the thought for several weeks later.
That’s the characteristic that butyl mercaptan has they want considering it’s detectable in parts per trillion by humans. Incidentally it also forms in bottled beer when its packed in green or clear bottles uv light breaks down amino acids in the hops they use to flavor beer creating an off flavor commonly know as skunking. It’s also the active ingredient in skunk spray as well.
This is why you don't understaff your Environmental health & safety department. These greedy corporations don't want to spend the money to take the load off the shift supervisors' backs and let the EHS safety officers protect your staff and facility from accidents like this.
Have you been to a refinery? Perhaps if they maybe worked a weekend or possibly stayed onsite for more than 7 hours. Environmental is a job for small minded little hitlers.
Oh Captain, Mercaptan! Ross would be proud - this is the stuff that makes natural gas smell bad. Tell someone that on a date and they'll think you're a huge nerd.
Shift change? Oh, hell no. I wouldn’t be able to leave my job if there was a critical chemical PROBLEM that complex. No pay? Fine. I’m not risking my coworkers or the public.
The problem was complex in hindsight, but their misunderstanding made it seem very simple. You would have briefed the new supervisor and gone home to your family. You would have no reason to believe anyone was at risk. Hindsight is 20/20.
These animations are so good. Especially for being a bit of an older video, makes me more intrigued. Thanks UA-cam, I’ll never use this information but it’s interesting as fuck.
I have learned so much about the the processes needed to make stuff from this channel......I love learning how stuff is made..then I also like to know what happens when you FUBAR a process that can kill people My top 2 Subscriptions on You-Tube are "How it's made" and "USCSB"
I'm a little surprised a plant working with poisonous and volatile compounds wouldn't have either 1) SCBA gear stored in multiple easy-to-reach locations, for workers to be able to close valves or shut down equipment in the event of an accidental release, or 2) equip teams with smaller breathing masks, with a short-term air supply, intended for immediate evacuation while a better-equipped damage control team is en route.
How is it not standard practice for employees to carry respirator or emergency SCBA equipment ON THEIR PERSON when working with highly toxic materials? It is just common sense, especially in confined spaces and with such huge quantities or material.
It was never thought possible for it to be in that building. Literally tons of it got injected into the vent system, turning the whole place into a gas chamber. Emergency SCBA was available. The two brothers looked like they had donned five-minute escape hoods, but died anyway.
Not opening valve--> no water in feedline--> no hydrate-->no need of heating--> no thermal expansion---> No overpressure of feedline--> no need of venting---> no methylmercaptane in vent system---> no release of methylmercaptane
I like these. They make me feel smart for knowing not to mix things and having a basic understanding o fchemistry (I'm not saying these professionals don't know that btw)
If it's a mercaptan the smell from working around this factory would be horrible. I'm surprised they could find anyone to work there. Good presentation. And DuPont is known for having a serious process safety management program.
@@jonathaneweaver1 Investigators learnt that Jonathaneweaver1 did not count the number of methl mercaptan's in the video correctly. It was at this point that the intoxication level exceeded safety limits, resulting in a catastrophic intoxication. We're already working on it. - USCSB
It still shocks me that people just walk away from a currently running, ad-hoc chemical process "hey let's go take a coffee break, this doesn't need eyes on it at all times". As always a very well done video, and a sad one.
I used to work in the oil and gas processing plants in the Intermountain West and then within chemical plants on the upper Gulf Coast of Texas. I saw things that were unsafe but I was young and didn't think much of it. I know now I probably should've worked every shift in an SCBA...lol. I got lucky, many do not.
I don't know anything about this kind of work so I find these animations informational so I do have one question. Why was the system designed with the option to vent into a building where people worked, when a hazardous material is able to accidentally make its way into said system? It seems like a deadly problem waiting to happen. Hopefully that actually made sense to someone reading and not just me.
I was waiting for the voice to go all "but unbeknownst to the herd of wildebeasts, there is danger lurking underneath the deceptively calm surface of the pool. A vacuum inside this Nile crocodile's stomach has been steadily building up over the last twenty-four hours..."
Me having no idea what I'm talking about: "What idiot left that methyl mercaptan feed valve open?"
Evergreen XCVI Somebody not checking with a super
It certainly is a complicated series of piping and treatment.
Heat trace the pipe work
I dont get why they don't have any kind of sensors on the valves to check if they're open
@@krissp8712 the amount of valves are easily controlled.
Along with a few essential sensors and alarms the procedure should be way safer ...
Whoever makes the animation for these videos does an outstanding job. And the narrator makes it very suspenseful.
And kept it short enough to use in a safety briefing or other presentation.
Yes, these animations make it very clear what happened; EXCELLENT animation!
Sounds like the narrator for Forensic Files lol
@@amandalong5916 Peter Thomas, I thought the same thing! But it's not him.
I find them quite fascinating.
I should be asleep but I'm on CSB binge.
This channel’s animations and explanations both inspire and raise awareness for all audiences.....I hope they keep doing what they’re doing
Me too. Fascinating and well-made videos. All plant managers and operators should view all these videos.
Yeah I agree they would learn so.much from watching these videos
What happened to the channel?
r0ckt3hc4sb4h I KNOW RIGHT,
This incident was quite complex, but the operators did better that 95% of the other CSB videos: they identified the problem, and accumulating issues, and tried to resolve them. It only took a few mistakes for this accident to happen.
... no, they did not do well at all. MeSH has boiling point of 5gradC... therefore it was certain, that a significant part of the MeSH will evaporate during the "defrosting" procedure - and the operators knew, that the only place for it to escape was the vent system - which obviously (from how the rest of the story unfolds) vents to atmosphere - not to a scrubber or a flare!
Moreover, everybody involved was incredibly lucky, that this all happened in winter. If it had happened during the summer, when the temperature of the process water was much higher, the water, that entered the piping in the first place would not form the hydrate, but flow into the storage tank, where it would have evaporated significant part of the MeSH inventory. This would have had likely ruptured the storage tank, or the piping, leading to massive release of MeSH - due to its toxicity, this would have been an US version of bhopal...
It all began with incomplete isolation of the reactor. The next and deadly mistake was leaving a supply pump on even though they didn't want anything supplied (tell me how that could happen - i mean that's like leaving a foot on the accelerator while in park)
Can someone tell me why the vent was not connected to a chemical scrubber, catalytic oxidizer, or a flare tower
Edit: spelled flare wrong
And again it was human error that caused the accident. The two brothers died needlessly because they ignored basic safety principles of not rushing into an unknown situation with out assessing the risk much like an attendant entering a confined space to rescue the worker inside instead of calling for help from trained responders.
@@chloralhydrate does that system vent to the atmosphere? if the feed line was connected to the vent system at all, the vent system must be designed to deal with the chemical in that feed line. the gas was released when they tried to drain liquid from the vent system, which the video says is standard procedure, but it's also implied that liquid shouldn't be in the vent system at all. if the issue of liquid in the vent system was dealt with before the situation with the blockages, they would have noticed "hey there's liquid in our vent system, where did that come from?" rather than just going to drain it
5:23 wow! Look at the detail and accuracy on that white railroad tank car! I'm a model railroader and I'm telling you they've captured everything, the air hoses, the grab iron ladder rungs, the curvature of the coupler lift bar, the air brake reservoir cylinder. I can't believe they can achieve this level of detail for a brief background object!
It has to be some public domain model that's available out there, right? These things would cost stacks upon stacks to make otherwise.
@@krpajda Probably not public domain, but visualization animation companies likely buy many small 3D assets from licensed asset vendors.
Krpajda it’s the government believe me it cost stacks and stack to make theses animations back then
These animations are used in the investigation so they HAVE to get every last detail, in another video they said that they even have to get even the smallest details like how a chain on a valve was hanging, or what direction a padlock was facing.
Just kids showing off their graphic design skills. Lol
Me, not knowing a thing about what is going on: Hmmm yes, this meth-on-my-captain sounds very dangerous
Methylmercaptan is the stinky chemical found in lots of stuff, from skunk secretions to rotting organic matter. It's typically mixed with natural gas as an odourant for easy detection of leaks giving that characteristic "pungeant gas" smell
Makes it all the more tragic that 4 people died suffocating on it though, what a terrible way to go
It’s truly tragic. Especially two of them being brothers. I can’t imagine what their families went through. 😞
Meth-on-my-captain is indeed dangerous. Same with My-captain-on-meth.
Once again the old wisdom is affirmed:
... nothing good happens after 3 a.m.
nothing good except sleep.....speaking of sleep tho, the time approaches 3AM as we speak.....
Night shift is always getting their ass kicked by something dumb that day shift came up with.
As someone who was nocturnal for thirty years, I beg to differ, but I understand what you mean. Companies forcing diurnal people to work at night is always a disaster waiting to happen.
DuPont seems to be a common place to get killers while working.
I usually hire two or three of them if I really need a job done right.
Dupont has there hands in a ton of dangerous plants all over the u.s what do you expect shit happens at those plants
I know "killers" is a typo but DuPont eneded up killing a wrestler so your comment still works!
Yea I'm a union Boilermaker, I hated working in there chemical dumps, glad I made it out alive retire now thank god
@@josephastier7421 Hahaha!! Very good!
I had a friend working there as a technical staff member. After the accident they began work on corrective actions but DuPont decided to shut it down. They came into work one day and were laid off with basically no warning, but hey, economics always rule.
A few things not really mentioned in this video was fatigue and pressure from leaders to get the unit up and making pounds. It is very easy to lose situational awareness when many things are not going as planned. Add in fatigue, which is a major factor affecting shift workers.
One question that should have been raised is what was the composition of the fluids that were routinely drained from the vent header prior to this tragedy. Did it have a history of having methyl mercaptan in it? If not, the operators could have become conditioned to not expecting that concentration of the chemical.
thx for adding that.
yep agree, seen it to often, targets, bonuses, promotion, and goodie too shoes bum lickers. Its all rush rush rush, pay less less less. Cut corners these days is like using this shavings as resources are none.
Chemical factories that do not have remote controlled shut of valves these days and sealled hazmat areas/room for escape and panic buttons, no wonder these branded companies make so much money !
Shift changes, no one goes home until the emergency is cleared and the safety team say so. Communication and resources will get lost if not,
Commumication is the major factor in accidents.
2nd is resources.
3rd is the company saving money on safety aspects, (cutting corners)
4th human error
5th computer programed wrong by a human,
Re: things not really mentioned in this video was fatigue and pressure from leaders to get the unit up
Yeah, and that's the part of this "investigation" that doesn't get mentioned in any of these otherwise excellent videos. If fatigue and overwork were factors, then the executives with the huge stock options should go to jail.
working through a shift change instead of leaving it the next day for the same team to finish the job seems to be a re-occurring human factor in these accidents. These companies never want to wait a day.
In the written CSB report, it was mentioned that the workers expected to drain process condensate from the waste gas vent header.
3:07
You know you've watched too many of these when you know there's going to be an expansion issue because of the closed valve.
Yeabut it really was valves open to the vent header which was the cargo last place this shit was intended
isn't that the issue almost always
either a closed valve leads to a weaker component breaking open, a closed valve leads to contents redirecting to unintended locations, or valves are left open in error
yo sick profile pic
This one made me grateful that I'm a programmer - I essentially make mistakes like this all the time due to the complexity of the systems I work on, yet there is often very little real-world consequence other than maybe a disgruntled user.
I have empathy for the engineers and technicians who worked on this, esp in regards to their mistake in keeping that valve open. It seems in this case there wasn't really a disregard to safety so much as an engineering mistake.
Safety was disregarded multiple times, I cringed super hard at least 5 different times. The biggest one was the poorly designed vent system which they didn’t fix they just lived with and ignored alarms in. The other big cringe was closing the valve to the reactor and then walking off when they almost had the blockage cleared
I was a Senior operator at a very large facility and these mistakes can easily happen. Nice you appreciate how difficult this job can be.
Didn't Boeing 737 MAX planes fall out of the sky because of issues with the MCAS software?
ChatGPT will find you eventually
software engineer - if you run some production online service then you know how having a system downtime is like being in active warzone repairing a broken down tank under artillery shelling. not to mention having a critical security hole found in your supply chain somewhere
The sound design for this is oddly incredibly good
I find these animations fascinating, and easy to understand for a non scientist.
The fact that humans can construct and maintain such a complex facility is unfathomable.
Thank you CSB for posting another excellent video.
There should be a TV series about these accidents in a CSI style with actors and full episodes for each accident!.
NOT CSI STYLE! GOD NO!
@@slitor NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I work in plants/refineries and Ive always hated shift change. I think any job started must be finished by the shift that started it. Meaning- No handing off of jobs. That would cut incidents in half.
I was working around this DuPont the year this happened and I cant remember hearing about this...
This is why doctors work long shifts.
That is a very good idea. Procedures with risk exposure above a certain level should be run to completion by those who start them.
agreed, although fatigue must be taken into account as well.
Lots of air accidents have happened because one shift didn’t tell the next shift what work had and hadn’t been done. Excellent point in many industries.
Its impossible to fully "not hand jobs off" in production, maybe maintenance but not production in a chemical plant.
*anyone else binge watching these CSB investigations?*
*makes me wanna apply as a safety or investigation officer*
Fucking same. Like.... I can't trust these people in my community any more... Jack asses are gonna leave a valve open or ignore a gauge
The world has enough white hats.
You're already a prince. Is that really necessary?
I wanna be the guy who goes into the toxic clouds past dead people and turns off the thingy. I bet that guy gets paid and I'm already emotionally fucked up from home invasion gone wrong type shit so I can walk past some dead people in an HEV suit and turn things off if I get dental coverage. Like 90% of it is just driving quick to wherever at some unlikely time. It just sounds like okay work.
Trust me, you don't want to be a safety inspector
The music you guys used was surprisingly good. Whatever team the USCSB has making these is top-notch.
I've been watching quite a few of your videos and it seems du pont are a common topic
Duponts own n run many different plants and all kinds of different businesses
Im on a CSB binge for sure. The excellence of these animations can not be understated
I'm a retired industrial union painter, and I never did like working inside chemical companies. I worked in several plant's in Louisville KY area called Rubbertown. It's amazing a very bad accident never happened there. Rusty old pipes, and storage tanks. All of them also had loading and unloading facilities on the Ohio River.
You should have blown the whistle to OSHA.
At first when I saw this new form of video it was a bit more of a departure from their normal presentation, I didn't really care for it, but now I really dig it.
I love these videos, it's like a little mystery video, not to mention the information and animation are very detailed and clear to understand.
States of flux are almost always the most dangerous ones in any process unit. Coming up, or going down are fraught with potential problems you just dont deal with daily. Its really a shame this is the way lessons are often learned.
That voice coupled with the background score makes me gravitate towards this video more and more each time I watch it! Great job guys!!
I really enjoy learning about safety in industrial facilities from CSB. The animations are amazing. It's awful the tragedies that have occurred, but I am thankful that we have organizations like the CSB to investigate what went wrong so others, like myself, can learn what to watch out for in our own facilities.
The narrator needs to be hired for Forensic Files III.... his voice is so soothing! And the animators..... wow, yall are getting reeeeeally good at this!
the animation this time around was so visually pleasing. props to the animator- great job!
My goodness. That was a complicated set of failures. I appreciate the CSB for making a 3D model that seemed quite accurate of the processing units and the animations they made to show the flow of Methyl Mercaptan and Hot Water. This is good to keep in mind, I think a lesson could be learned to evaluate where the flow will relieve too if the liquid expands and flows from the pipe into the vent header. And another lesson would be to have proper drain points or knock out pots, so liquid does not build up in the vent header.
I love these videos because they have the natural consequence of raising workplace safety awareness. Remember folks, you always have the right to refuse unsafe work.
From what I have read methomyl is produced by producing first an intermediate oxime, usually methylthiomethyl oxime, and then reacting it with methyl isocyanate. I believe the production of the intermediate using methyl mercaptan is unique to DuPont.
Sounds like proper PPE by DuPonte could have saved the lives of the 4 workers that attempted to close the valves.
Full respirators and oxygen tanks aren’t PPE you typically walk around with
PPE is the last line of defense. Before that are hazard elimination, hazard substitution, engineering controls, and administrative controls.
Workers should never have been required to vent pipes connected to process lines into the building, especially with acutely toxic chemicals in use.
@@hexane360 Bingo, what kind of workplace vents anything into a closed space(building)?
The music on this is awesome.
These informatic videos are super instructive! Cannot thank enough.
These videos are great and the animators do a great job. The narrator adds that finishing touch.
The animation and narration is outstanding in all these videos, damn
Music in the background is GREAT
Your channels are informative even I'm not studying in your respective fields. Good Job!
The brothers were Robert and Gilbert Tisnado. What's sad is Gilbert was bringing a gas mask to his brother and they both died.
Methylmercaptane is also used for giving natural gas the gas odor most everyone is familiar with. I got a whiff of the stuff by just standing next to a tank of it in a plant, and could almost taste it at the thought for several weeks later.
This is incorrect.
+CheckAvability --> It's actually butyl mercaptan.
In Germany Tetrahydrothiophene is used to "odourise" natural gas. But you're right, the stench from CH3SH is terrible.
That’s the characteristic that butyl mercaptan has they want considering it’s detectable in parts per trillion by humans. Incidentally it also forms in bottled beer when its packed in green or clear bottles uv light breaks down amino acids in the hops they use to flavor beer creating an off flavor commonly know as skunking. It’s also the active ingredient in skunk spray as well.
i so badly want this man to read me bedtime stories
he has the perfect grizzled old man voice and i love it so much
I remember when this happened you could smell it like 30 miles away
What did it smell like?
@@jacobshirley3457 I assume horrible
6:39 I love that quick head turn. "Yeah its m- WHAT!?"
So happy to work as an operator! Trust no pipe!
This is why you don't understaff your Environmental health & safety department. These greedy corporations don't want to spend the money to take the load off the shift supervisors' backs and let the EHS safety officers protect your staff and facility from accidents like this.
Have you been to a refinery? Perhaps if they maybe worked a weekend or possibly stayed onsite for more than 7 hours. Environmental is a job for small minded little hitlers.
@@nocomment3600 Still no justification to ignore safety procedures or do the basic things needed to not accidently get your employees injured/killed
I have no idea why UA-cam suggested this channel to me, but it’s extremely interesting.
Damn the music for this was cool. Props to whoever does the music and sound :)
This narrator needs to do documentary jobs, he’s got a beautiful voice
This video kept me so engaged and is very well done
Yarr matey! What be that foul stench?
Tis a bit of Methyl M'Captain!
You should be forced to walk the plank for that pun.
Oh Captain, Mercaptan!
Ross would be proud - this is the stuff that makes natural gas smell bad. Tell someone that on a date and they'll think you're a huge nerd.
Methyl M'Captain reporting for duty
There should be alarms on certain valves that can cause a dangerous situation if left opened or closed.
4thegloryofthelord yeah but after watch lots of theses videos they almost always ignore them.
@@tonywalker2334 Or just turn off the alarm cos its annoying LMAO
This is the best video on your channel.
The old " it's not my job routine" Kills more people on job sites then any other
Shift change? Oh, hell no. I wouldn’t be able to leave my job if there was a critical chemical PROBLEM that complex. No pay? Fine. I’m not risking my coworkers or the public.
The problem was complex in hindsight, but their misunderstanding made it seem very simple. You would have briefed the new supervisor and gone home to your family. You would have no reason to believe anyone was at risk.
Hindsight is 20/20.
@@lambdaman3228 Exactly.
And I do believe you, sure I do.
i call bullshit
@@mantequillaop8262 oh yeah
These animations are so good. Especially for being a bit of an older video, makes me more intrigued. Thanks UA-cam, I’ll never use this information but it’s interesting as fuck.
I have learned so much about the the processes needed to make stuff from this channel......I love learning how stuff is made..then I also like to know what happens when you FUBAR a process that can kill people
My top 2 Subscriptions on You-Tube are "How it's made" and "USCSB"
JimboBillyBob Justice sand
I particularly enjoyed the video: How Plumbuses Are Made
@@rotaryskratch18 You got me
When asked to give an assessment on the fatal methyl mercaptan release, authorities simply said, "it stinks."
These videos do a great job of showing the "What were they thinking?!?!" side to it all.
I am an IT guy. Instead of watching some it tutorials I am watching these. These are so interesting.
Incredible videos
These videos are great
I'm a little surprised a plant working with poisonous and volatile compounds wouldn't have either 1) SCBA gear stored in multiple easy-to-reach locations, for workers to be able to close valves or shut down equipment in the event of an accidental release, or 2) equip teams with smaller breathing masks, with a short-term air supply, intended for immediate evacuation while a better-equipped damage control team is en route.
Love the music
Only took 6 years but finally someone indicted for this in January 2021. I won't mention any names but you can look it up.
Excellent video 👍🏽
One thing I've learned: Never work as a contractor doing hot work at a chem plant. Just don't DEW IT
Awesome Animation and content ❤️🇮🇳
How is it not standard practice for employees to carry respirator or emergency SCBA equipment ON THEIR PERSON when working with highly toxic materials? It is just common sense, especially in confined spaces and with such huge quantities or material.
$$$$$$$$$$
This stuff kills so quickly I’m not even sure it would have helped them. It’s real scary stuff.
It was never thought possible for it to be in that building. Literally tons of it got injected into the vent system, turning the whole place into a gas chamber. Emergency SCBA was available. The two brothers looked like they had donned five-minute escape hoods, but died anyway.
It is standard practice with certain chemicals. This being one. Operators unfortunately don't always suit up when they should.
Idk how I found these video but I'm very intrigued
What is with the lack of remote control valves at DuPont? What is this the 1950's...?
RIGHT?!?!
Great job on the animation. Sad story for the workers.
its always good to go back to the USCSB classics
1:28 main error that led to the accident was leaving open the valve to the feedline
Not opening valve--> no water in feedline--> no hydrate-->no need of heating--> no thermal expansion---> No overpressure of feedline--> no need of venting---> no methylmercaptane in vent system---> no release of methylmercaptane
This channel alone makes me want to become an CSBC investigator 🕵️
I like these. They make me feel smart for knowing not to mix things and having a basic understanding o fchemistry
(I'm not saying these professionals don't know that btw)
If it's a mercaptan the smell from working around this factory would be horrible. I'm surprised they could find anyone to work there. Good presentation. And DuPont is known for having a serious process safety management program.
Why am I addicted to CSB videos?!
No sure how I found these but they're very interesting. Working in the industrial field I hope I never have to experience incidents such as these...
excelent!
Narrator is a boss.
Drink every time he says methyl mercaptan
The methl mercaptan almost got me
I tried this it did not turn out well for me , now the csb wants to do an animated video about what went wrong.
@@jonathaneweaver1 Investigators learnt that Jonathaneweaver1 did not count the number of methl mercaptan's in the video correctly. It was at this point that the intoxication level exceeded safety limits, resulting in a catastrophic intoxication.
We're already working on it. - USCSB
@@V8SplashMan A Liver Failure Emergency (LFE) was declared, but it was too late.
Do this at a company, and the CSB will do a report on your company and an incident of mass alcohol poisoning.
The situation could have been far worse if the initial water leak had occured in the summer and vaporized the contents of the tank
A TECNOLOGIA sendo agente de Segurança de Processo para evitar, outros, acidentes com produtos perigosos!!! AlexN. Aracaju-Sergipe-Brasil!!!
Great resource for job safety training.
Why can't there be simple mechanical flags attached to valves that use a colour shape that shows which state it is in?
What’s the background music lol it’s good
I would like to know this as well
We need more simulated accidents even if they are normal or don't have to include death
I remember this well. I cross that bridge twice every day.
DUPONT AT ITS BEST
Exactly
Upvoted because you used "its" correctly; thank you.
this one was so complex omg
You know for a video for safety that’s some good music
Idfk
Reminded me a bit of Tron
Oh captain Mercaptain!
I mentally made this pun and I'm frankly pleased to see someone else did.
Methyl mercaptan is going to be my next kid name 😂
Who else here just bingeing these cbs videos and have no idea why just cause they're mildly interesting.
It still shocks me that people just walk away from a currently running, ad-hoc chemical process "hey let's go take a coffee break, this doesn't need eyes on it at all times". As always a very well done video, and a sad one.
I used to work in the oil and gas processing plants in the Intermountain West and then within chemical plants on the upper Gulf Coast of Texas. I saw things that were unsafe but I was young and didn't think much of it. I know now I probably should've worked every shift in an SCBA...lol. I got lucky, many do not.
What ever that alarm noise that sounds like an alien abduction sound is gonna be in my nightmares
damn brothers dying together, I couldnt work there again
the brother things is actually a pretty common story
I don't know anything about this kind of work so I find these animations informational so I do have one question. Why was the system designed with the option to vent into a building where people worked, when a hazardous material is able to accidentally make its way into said system? It seems like a deadly problem waiting to happen. Hopefully that actually made sense to someone reading and not just me.
I was waiting for the voice to go all "but unbeknownst to the herd of wildebeasts, there is danger lurking underneath the deceptively calm surface of the pool. A vacuum inside this Nile crocodile's stomach has been steadily building up over the last twenty-four hours..."