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
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.
With John Chidgey.
Formal Reports:
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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.
With John Chidgey.
Hearing:
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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.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced
Only a Handful of T-Shirts Left!
Reports:
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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.
With John Chidgey.
Mark as Played
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.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced
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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.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting...
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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...
With John Chidgey...
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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.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced
Links ...
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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.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting ...
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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.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced
Links of Interest:
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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.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced
Links of Interest:
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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.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced
Report into the Incident:
Video Foot...
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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.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced
Report into the Incidents:
Design Criteria and Bid:
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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.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced
Report into the Incidents:
Links of Potential Interest:
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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.
With John Chidgey.
This show is Podcasting 2.0 Enhanced
Reports into the ...
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January 24, 2021 • 36 mins
A popular family-friendly ride at DreamWorld would claim the lives of four people in 2016. In nearly thirty years of operation the ride had several similar but non-fatal incidents with blame placed on the operator every time, when a three thousand dollar modification could have prevented a horrific incident.
With John Chidgey.
With John Chidgey.
Investigation Report:
Links of Potential Interest:
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November 26, 2020 • 34 mins
In 1978 on the cusp of the eradication of SmallPox a Medical Photographer became infected and would ultimately die from the Variola virus. We look at how admiration, promotion and delegation led to a wholly avoidable outcome.
With John Chidgey.
With John Chidgey.
Investigation Report:
Medical Analyses:
Links of Potential Interest:
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September 15, 2020 • 31 mins
A series of concrete ceiling tiles in a tunnel portal collapsed on a moving car killing the passenger in downtown Boston in 2006. The selection of the epoxy used in the ceiling tile anchors was unusual and a failure to heed the warning signs were at odds on a huge project under pressure to deliver when already twice over time and five times over budget.
With John Chidgey.
With John Chidgey.
Investigation Report:
Tec...
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July 26, 2020 • 49 mins
A modification made in 1956 to a pipeline built in the 1940s would ultimately fail costing 8 people their lives in 2010. We look at what went wrong with PG&Es gas pipeline in San Bruno, California.
With John Chidgey.
With John Chidgey.
Investigation and Reports:
Technical Links:
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May 7, 2020 • 34 mins
One Friday morning in 1966 in a small town in Wales a mining spoils waste tip let go with a river of liquified rubble destroying buildings and a school. Killing 144 people, mostly children in their classrooms. The mechanics of how this happened are simple. The ignorance and economics of why this happened boggles the mind.
With John Chidgey.
With John Chidgey.
Related episodes:
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