Causality

Causality

Chain of Events. Cause and Effect. We analyse what went right and what went wrong as we discover that many outcomes can be predicted, planned for and even prevented.

Episodes

58: West Fertilizer Company

March 31, 2025 • 30 mins
In the early hours of the evening on the 17th of April, 2013 in the small city of West, Texas...smoke was seen emanating from the West Fertilizer Company building. In 20 minutes there was a massive explosion that levelled the facility and its surroundings, killing 15 people and injuring hundreds more. How this came to be, represented a failure of regulations, planning and grandfathering on every level.
With John Chidgey.

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57: Stardust Nightclub

January 7, 2025 • 27 mins
On Valentines Day in 1981 in the North of Dublin, Ireland a fire broke out in a nightclub just following a Disco Dancing competition. We look at how measures taken to prevent illegal entry and poor building material choices cost 48 young people their lives.
With John Chidgey.

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56: BP Husky Toledo

December 17, 2024 • 40 mins
On the 20th of September, 2022 at the BP Husky Toledo refinery in Ohio, a level transmitter change out from a month prior triggered a chain of events that would cost two operators their lives. We look at how poor Management of Change, high alarm rates and a resistance to stopping the job, let a plant upset turn into a disaster.
With John Chidgey.

Formal Report:

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55: CrowdStrike

October 19, 2024 • 29 mins
On Friday the 19th of July, 2024 millions of CrowdStrike Falcon Agents the world over would lead to a Windows system crash on business machines throwing parts of the world into chaos. We look into exactly what caused it and how complacency and a lack of understanding amplified the effect of this wholly preventable incident.
With John Chidgey.

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54: Midland Resource Recovery

June 25, 2024 • 28 mins
In 2017 during an Odoriser decontamination procedure in West Virginia, two people were killed when it unexpectedly exploded. Barely a month later, a similar procedure at the same site led to a second explosion, killing someone else. We examine how poor hazard analysis and legal interference led to yet another fatality...right in front of the eyes of the investigators on site.
With John Chidgey.

Formal Report:

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53: Callide C Blackout

March 30, 2024 • 50 mins
In 2021 the Callide C Power Station experienced a unit failure that tore the turbine-generator apart, resulted in hundreds of thousands of premises losing power, and cost hundreds of millions to repair. We look at how design errors and ultimately a lack of information led to the incident escalating out of control, when it could have been recovered.
With John Chidgey.

Formal Reports:

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52: Colonial Pipeline

December 9, 2023 • 26 mins
In 2021 many of Colonial Pipelines IT systems were locked by malware and out of caution they shutdown the fuel pipelines feeding nearly half of the Eastern US leading to chaos at the gas pump and a state of emergency being declared. We look at how poor off-boarding hygiene led to an easily preventable cyber-attack.
With John Chidgey.

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51: I35 West

August 27, 2023 • 36 mins
The I35W bridge over the Mississippi River carried 140,000 cars every day. Inspections in 1999 and 2003 showed damage to support plates that was dismissed as unimportant at the time. We look into how poor design checking and assumptions led to the bridge collapsing in 2007, costing the lives of 13 people.
With John Chidgey.

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50: 737 MAX Ethiopian Air

April 22, 2023 • 52 mins
Five months after Lion Air 610 crashed, another 737-MAX went down with a similar cause. However the official report was at odds with two other internationally respected investigative organisations. We dig into the detail of how the AOA Sensor was claimed to have failed, and review checklist discrepancies to extract fact from opinion as to what most likely triggered this horrible chain of events.
With John Chidgey.

This show i...

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    49: Carmel Fireworks Explosion

    January 18, 2023 • 29 mins
    A fireworks company in Western Australia that had been in business for nearly a century, were preparing for a fireworks display in their packing shed when one ignited and set off a fire and an explosion. Onlookers were shocked when there was a subsequent explosion that was so big it was heard 30 kilometers away leaving the facility in ruins.
    With John Chidgey.

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    48: Instituto Goiano de Radioterapia

    November 18, 2022 • 33 mins
    When a radiation therapy machine was left behind during a move between buildings in central Brazil, it set in motion a series of events that would lead to one of the worst radiological incidents in history. We look into how bureaucracy and misdiagnosis cost four people their lives and how the actions of a concerned mother with no medical experience, saved the lives of countless more.
    With John Chidgey.

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    47: Hyatt Regency Kansas City

    July 15, 2022 • 41 mins
    The tallest building in Missouri with a large atrium perfect for big bands and dancing, hosted a regular Tea Dance in the summer of 1981. When two walkways collapsed killing over a hundred people, the investigators found multiple fundamental design errors. We look at how assumptions, redrafting conventions and negligence led to an incident that has become the case study in how not to do civil structural design.
    With John Chidgey...

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    46: Mindbender

    May 16, 2022 • 29 mins
    The longest, tallest, fastest indoor rollercoaster in the world was only open six months when the last carriage of a train came loose, killing three people and all that the day following an inspection that the ride was safe to operate. We look at how a design choice made maintenance more critical and then how wishing for a ride to be safe, doesn't really help.
    With John Chidgey.

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    45: Granville

    April 2, 2022 • 25 mins
    In 1977, a commuter train from the Blue Mountains, destined for Sydney central station would derail just before Granville Station, causing a bridge to collapse and crush many aboard. It remains Australia's worst ever rail disaster that was predicted by 11 engineering department heads just a year earlier. We look at how management decisions led to a completely avoidable disaster.
    With John Chidgey.

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    44: Beirut Warehouse 12

    February 10, 2022 • 31 mins
    In Beirut in August of 2020, an explosion at the Port of Beirut destroyed a huge part of the city. We look into how an oxidising agent, improperly handled can become an explosive and attempt to comprehend how something so dangerous was ignored repeatedly by key people, despite many warnings of an imminent disaster.
    With John Chidgey.

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    43: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory

    November 9, 2021 • 27 mins
    In 1911 in Manhattan, New York, a clothing factory went up in flames just before closing time. We look at how faulty equipment, poor design and a fear of theft contributed to a wholly preventable incident that had such terrible consequences, but would trigger reforms that still impact the United States, a century later.
    With John Chidgey.

    This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced

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    42: Royal Canberra Hospital

    September 16, 2021 • 45 mins
    The original Royal Canberra Hospital was flagged to be demolished in 1997 to make way for the new National Museum. A demolition via implosion was selected, but the implosion resulted in an explosion instead, and debris showered the huge crowd of onlookers with fatal consequences.
    With John Chidgey.

    This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced

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    41: Florida International University

    July 8, 2021 • 43 mins
    The university wanted a bridge for its students over a busy roadway that would appear intriguing from afar. Instead it collapsed before it was even finished. We look into how design errors, poor peer review and denial led to a collapse that claimed six peoples lives.
    With John Chidgey.

    This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced

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    40: Ocean Ranger

    May 24, 2021 • 46 mins
    The largest semi-submersible Offshore Drilling Rig of its day, sank in a storm in 1982 whilst two smaller nearby rigs survived with minimal damage. We dive into how not closing a portlight cover, triggered a series of events that cost 84 people their lives.
    With John Chidgey.

    This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced

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    39: Therac-25

    March 22, 2021 • 53 mins
    The successor to the Therac-6 and Therac-20 RadioTherapy machines would integrate the powerful DEC PDP-11 mini-computer to control all of the Therac-25s functions, including the safety interlocks, for the first time. In two years the 11 machines in service would overdose six people across two countries, killing three of them before they figured out why.
    With John Chidgey.

    This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced

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