INCIDENT

T2 Laboratories: How a Past Chemical Plant Disaster Offers a Vision for an Altered Industrial Safety Future.

When most process safety incidents occur, anywhere in the world, it is never just one miscue that brings about the disaster, but, rather, a series of mistakes or shortcuts either introduced, or that build up as a cumulative effect over time. 

The runaway reaction that occurred at T2 Laboratories December 19, 2007, is a perfect example. The massive explosion that occurred on that day, which resulted in the deaths of 4 people, the injury of 32 additional individuals, and the destruction of several nearby businesses was not the first unplanned exothermic reaction the chemical maker had experienced. In fact, three of the first 10 batches of the methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MCMT) the company produced resulted in unanticipated exothermic reactions.  MORE