1 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: Pushkin too quick. 2 00:00:19,240 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 2: No, it's perfect Pushkin stuff. You got it. Hey, it's 3 00:00:24,759 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 2: Jacob Business. History is on a break this week, so 4 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 2: we're going to play you an episode of another Pushkin 5 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 2: show called Cautionary Tales. The show is hosted by the 6 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:37,879 Speaker 2: great Tim Harford, and this episode is the story of 7 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 2: a factory, in particular, the story of what seemed like 8 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 2: a small thing leading eventually to a terrible disaster. 9 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England, sparsely populated and 10 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: largely rural. Few great moments of history have been made here. 11 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: Large towns are also few. People tend to live in 12 00:01:03,840 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: small villages, engaged in such bucolic activities as potato farming 13 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: and pig husbandry. It seems hard to believe that Lincolnshire 14 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: is on anyone's radar. The county is famed for something though, 15 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 1: being flat, and that flatness has given Lincolnshire a geopolitical significance. 16 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:43,240 Speaker 1: It's perfect for air bases. In the early summer of 17 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy four, Lincolnshire is home to v Force of 18 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: the RAF, the giant Vulcan bombers screaming up this long runway, 19 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: a part of Britain's nuclear deterrent. If the Soviet Union 20 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:02,240 Speaker 1: launches a surprise atomic strike, these Royal Air Force crews 21 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: have just a few minutes warning to get into the 22 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: air and hit back, devastating karl Markstadt, Minsk or Moscow 23 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: in retaliation. The Vulcan pilots would doubtless have much on 24 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,120 Speaker 1: their minds given the mission ahead, but few wasted time 25 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:26,359 Speaker 1: in thinking of their return home. The quite reasonable assumption 26 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: is that the Russians would pulverize Lincolnshire and its runways 27 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: while they were away. It's late on a Saturday afternoon 28 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: and farmer Gordon Atkinson is working in a sugar beet 29 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: field near the hamlet of brandy Wharf, but a distant 30 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:51,240 Speaker 1: noise prompts him to look up from his labors. I 31 00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:55,519 Speaker 1: heard this rumble and thought it's going to be a thunderstorm. 32 00:02:55,560 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: He said that that rolling boom was no act of God, 33 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: Its origins were man made. An enormous explosion has just 34 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:11,120 Speaker 1: ripped across northern Lincolnshire. And if that wasn't obvious to 35 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: Gordon Akin, it was all too clear to his elderly mother. 36 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 1: She's been spending a quiet afternoon at home twenty miles 37 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: near at the epicenter of the detonation. Her house was 38 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: now as shambles. The blast ripped the front door off 39 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: its hinges and sent it rocketing up the staircase to 40 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: the four above. If she could see, missus Atkinson might 41 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,000 Speaker 1: have despaired at the state of her lounge, littered as 42 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: it was with shards of glass and tatters of curtaincloth, 43 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:57,120 Speaker 1: But she couldn't see. The blast wave had come whooshing 44 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:01,119 Speaker 1: down the chimney stack, filling the house with a blinding, 45 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:07,360 Speaker 1: choking veil of soot. People ten, twenty, even thirty miles 46 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:12,040 Speaker 1: from the explosion stopped in their tracks to look in 47 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: the direction of missus Atkinson's village. Flicksborough teenager Leduena Beckers 48 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,560 Speaker 1: was watching the football on TV with her four brothers, 49 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:28,559 Speaker 1: rushing to look out the window. The family joked about 50 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: what the source of the noise might be. But then 51 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,839 Speaker 1: we saw the mushroom cloud, dark and ominous in the sky, 52 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: said Ladreena. All laughter in the Beckers household stopped. Had 53 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: World War IIE really begun? I'm Tim Harford and you're 54 00:04:50,160 --> 00:05:19,719 Speaker 1: listening to another cautionary tale. You've probably never heard of. 55 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: Polycaprolactum even by its snappier monica nylon six. But I'll 56 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,159 Speaker 1: bet there's some nylon six within arms reach of you 57 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: right now. It's used in all manner of items. It 58 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: makes the bristles of toothbrushes and the strings of tennis rackets. 59 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: You can find it inside almost every electrical gadget, and 60 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: since nylon six is used to fashion medical implants, you 61 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: might even have some inside you. Nylon six is strong, 62 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,919 Speaker 1: hard and tough. It won't conduct electricity and doesn't taint 63 00:05:55,960 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: foods it comes into contact with. It's useful stuff, and 64 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: it would be hard to imagine our world without it. 65 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: Flying a plane, driving a car, or even getting dressed 66 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:10,799 Speaker 1: in the morning would be a very different proposition without 67 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 1: nylon six. Nylon six was an invention of Nazi Germany. 68 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:21,160 Speaker 1: The polymer was used to make parachute canopies, tires for warplanes, 69 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: and the toe ropes of gliders. But nylon six production 70 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: really boomed in the post war years, with factories around 71 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 1: the world pumping out the stuff. Depending on where you lived, 72 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: it might be marketed as Perlon, Nilotron, Ultramid, or Jurathan. 73 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: I won't bore you with the details of its manufacture, 74 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,600 Speaker 1: but this story centers around the production of caprolactum, from 75 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 1: which nylon six is made. By the nineteen seventies, nylon 76 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:56,240 Speaker 1: six was in huge demand. The fibers were so ubiquitous 77 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: that there was even a fashion for people to carpet 78 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: their entire homes wall to wall with the stuff. To 79 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 1: meet this clamor, a joint venture was launched by the 80 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: Dutch State Mines and the British National Coal Board. There 81 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: had been a modest factor tree at Flicksborough making fertilizer 82 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 1: from the mucky waste from local steel foundries, but now 83 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 1: under the name Nypro, Flicksburgh was getting into the glamorous 84 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: world of polymers. The plant would be transformed at the 85 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: cost of many millions of pounds, and the workforce would 86 00:07:33,400 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: swell into the hundreds. Local newspapers soon filled up with 87 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: recruitment ads for chemists, engineers, shorthand typists and canteen staff. 88 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: It was expected the complex would use as much power 89 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: as a city of half a million people, all to 90 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: produce seventy thousand tons of cap prolactum per year. It 91 00:07:54,960 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: would be Britain's biggest indeed, its only caprolactin plant. Nipro 92 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: was essentially putting all its eggs in one basket, and 93 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: to many this reasoning seemed sound. Building a single megafactory 94 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: of considerable economies of scale, it would simplify transport and 95 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: logistics and allow Nipro to strike bulk buying deals for 96 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 1: energy and raw materials. So in sleepy rural Lincolnshire, on 97 00:08:26,960 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: a curve of the Broad River, trend for Nypro works 98 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: quickly took shape. Gargantuan cranes hoisted gleaming steel processing tanks 99 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: into place. Chimneys and cooling towers went up, as did 100 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:47,199 Speaker 1: tall spindleaf flarestacks. After dark, their flames, along with countless 101 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: strings of lights, picked out the silhouette of the plant 102 00:08:52,080 --> 00:09:00,599 Speaker 1: against the night sky. Dennis Lawrence was one of Nipro's employees. 103 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: He loved the job, he told his family the plant 104 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:09,960 Speaker 1: was just so modern, so clean. But all was not 105 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:16,320 Speaker 1: well at Nypro. The target was to produce seventy thousand 106 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: tonnes of caprolactum per year, but by nineteen seventy four, 107 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: two years into the expansion, only forty seven thousand tons 108 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: were likely to leave the factory gate. For Nipro to 109 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: turn a profit, they needed to make more of the 110 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: stuff and quickly. The heart of the factory was a 111 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: series of six identical steel reactor vessels. These cylindrical tanks 112 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: were installed in a line and connected by pipework. The first, 113 00:09:44,760 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: sixteen foot tall vessel was the highest in this chain, 114 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:52,840 Speaker 1: The second vessel was placed fourteen inches lower, and so on. 115 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: Thus gravity would aid the flow of chemicals from one 116 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 1: down to the next, and the chemical inside was liquid cyclohexane, 117 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: which was pressurized, heated, and then blasted with compressed air 118 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 1: as it traveled through the vessel. The bosses at Nipro 119 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: had high hopes for this part of the plant, but 120 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: so far its operation was proving troublesome. Nightpro worker Dennis 121 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: Lawrence confided to his wife that there had been leaks. 122 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: She didn't like the sound of that and worried for 123 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: his safety. Cyclohexane is, after all, an incredibly flammable liquid, 124 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:38,319 Speaker 1: and when it escape since the open air, it tends 125 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 1: to vaporize, forming a deadly combustible cloud. Dennis, a part 126 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:48,440 Speaker 1: time firefighter, had told his wife that if the cyclohexane 127 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: tanks ever went up, there'd be no hope for anyone 128 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:58,160 Speaker 1: on the site. The management was alive to these risks 129 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: arriving workers were frisked for cigarettes, matches, and lighters, and 130 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: the technicians who worked closest to the chemicals wore special 131 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:11,600 Speaker 1: shoes to reduce the risk of creating a spark. That said, 132 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,440 Speaker 1: it was feared that even someone shifting too quickly in 133 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:20,080 Speaker 1: a fashionable nylon shirt could produce enough static charge to 134 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 1: ignite an explosion. Naturally, when a six foot long crack 135 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: was discovered in the fifth of the six steel reactor 136 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: vessels in March nineteen seventy four, the whole array was 137 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:38,280 Speaker 1: immediately closed down and allowed to cool off. It was 138 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:42,920 Speaker 1: swiftly decided that vessel five should be removed, but that 139 00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: a costly shutdown could be avoided if the remaining vessels 140 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: were pressed back into service connected with a temporary pipe 141 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: where reactor five should have been. This pipe would simply 142 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: have to be designed and built on site. No one 143 00:11:59,480 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 1: in authority thought this a reckless or hazardous decision. They 144 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: were said to regard it as no more than a 145 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 1: routine plumbing job. But unfortunately we don't always know what 146 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:17,200 Speaker 1: we don't know. A mechanical engineer might have told them 147 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: that fabricating such a pipe was fraught with difficulties. But 148 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 1: amongst all the newspaper ads for cooks and clerks and 149 00:12:25,600 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: draftsmen to join the workforce at Flicksborough, there was also 150 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: a situation's vacant notice for a mechanical engineer, and that 151 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: position had yet to be filled. Cautionary tales were returned shortly. 152 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:56,920 Speaker 1: The plans for the temporary pipe were supposedly sketched out 153 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: in chalk on the floor of the factory's workshop, and 154 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: if that sounds worryingly cavalier, you haven't heard the half 155 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 1: of it. The existing pipes carrying pressurized and scalding hot 156 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:17,199 Speaker 1: liquid cyclohexane from vessel to vessel measured twenty eight inches across, 157 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 1: but no spare piping of that size could be found 158 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: laying around the niproplant. Instead of delaying the repair to 159 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:32,679 Speaker 1: order some the handy length of twenty inch pipe was substituted, 160 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: roughly half the capacity of the original. Pushing the cyclohexane 161 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 1: from a broad pipe into a thinner one creates issues, 162 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 1: but some rough calculations reassured the nyprobosses that the smaller 163 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 1: pipe could take the strain. But the original twenty eight 164 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 1: inch pipes ran straight and by removing React of five. 165 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:02,640 Speaker 1: The NPRO workers now needed its smaller replacement to accommodate 166 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: the considerable drop in height from vessel four to vessel six, 167 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:12,559 Speaker 1: So they gave the new pipe a dog leg by 168 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: welding two joints along its length. So now the pipe 169 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: ran straight, drop down, ran straight, a bit more, drop 170 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: down again, and then joined REACT to vessels six. If 171 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: they'd consulted the relevant safety standards, the men putting these 172 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 1: kinks in the pipe would have known that their welds 173 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 1: weren't up to the task. For when you force a 174 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 1: moving liquid to change direction, it puts extra strain on 175 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: the points where your pipe bends. This is all bad, 176 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: but we're still not finished. The forces acting on the 177 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 1: pipe's two bends would also cause a so called turning moment, 178 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: causing the metal work to shift and twist in worrying ways. 179 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: To counteract these forces, you need to secure the whole 180 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: structure firmly. But as they hoisted their replacement pipe into place, 181 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: the n PRO workers perched it on some flimsy scaffolding poles. 182 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: Each original pipe was fitted with a bellows joint, essentially 183 00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: a rubber section that could expand and move to help 184 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 1: absorb some of the forces acting on the rigid metalwork. 185 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: No one thought to ask the manufacturer of these rubber 186 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 1: joints if they were strong enough to absorb the forces 187 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:39,600 Speaker 1: at play in this jerry rigged pipework. If the replacement 188 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: pipe began to buck and squirm, would these bellows joints 189 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:50,440 Speaker 1: just split apart. A mechanical engineer would immediately have spotted 190 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: all these dangers, but there wasn't one on site. A 191 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 1: chemical engineer around the npro operation. He was no doubt 192 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 1: highly trained in his own field, but such training was 193 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 1: narrow back then and wouldn't have included even the most 194 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 1: basic mechanical concepts. It was an electrical engineer who oversaw 195 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: the repair crew, and he wasn't educated to degree level. 196 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,360 Speaker 1: And the workmen themselves can hardly have been expected to 197 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 1: spot the flaws in the design lots more, they were 198 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:26,560 Speaker 1: working at breakneck speed to complete the job. The crack 199 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: in Vessel five had been spotted on March the twenty seventh, 200 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:35,360 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy four. Once it had been lifted clear, the design, 201 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 1: building and installation of the replacement pipe had taken just 202 00:16:40,240 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: thirty hours. There followed a rather half hearted attempt to 203 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: test the dog legged assembly, gas rather than liquid, was 204 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:55,360 Speaker 1: pushed into the pipe that pressures approximating the normal operation 205 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: of the system. The normal operation mine no thought was 206 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: given to an abnormal spike in pressure. The system, of course, 207 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:06,080 Speaker 1: had a safety valve to release pressure if such a 208 00:17:06,159 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 1: spike became too much and threatened to burst the vessels 209 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:14,679 Speaker 1: and original pipes. The replacement pipe was never tested to 210 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:18,199 Speaker 1: see if it would fail before this safety valve kicked in. 211 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:28,760 Speaker 1: So on April Fools Day nineteen seventy four, just five 212 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 1: days after the vessel cracked, Flicksburgh was back at work 213 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: oxidizing highly flammable cyclohexane. The management and board of Nipro 214 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:43,879 Speaker 1: were no doubt delighted by this performance. The outward flow 215 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,800 Speaker 1: of capro lactum could resume, and so too could the 216 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:56,399 Speaker 1: inward flow of money. Whenever you centralize production, when you 217 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,040 Speaker 1: put all your eggs in one basket, as Nipro had, 218 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: you can realize considerable gains, but this always comes with risk. 219 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:10,440 Speaker 1: In a recent episode of the new podcast Business History, 220 00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:14,480 Speaker 1: host Jacob Goldin looked at the success of the American 221 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: Airline Southwest. Southwest began as a budget regional carrier out 222 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: of Texas, but It's no Frill's approach soon made it 223 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:28,000 Speaker 1: a major national airline, able to turn a profit each 224 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:33,600 Speaker 1: and every year for forty seven years. That's an unrivaled 225 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: feat in the aviation world. One of the secrets to 226 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:42,960 Speaker 1: this success was standardization. While other airlines might have mixed 227 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:46,840 Speaker 1: fleets of Boeing seven or seven jumbo jets or Airbus 228 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:51,680 Speaker 1: A three eighties or smaller short haul aircraft, Southwest has 229 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:56,359 Speaker 1: only really ever operated the Boeing seven three seven. This 230 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 1: made life much easier and cheaper for Southwest. Pilots, flight attendants, 231 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,200 Speaker 1: and ground crew only had to learn the foibles of 232 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 1: a single aircraft type. Thus training time was reduced. When 233 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:14,359 Speaker 1: staff went circor planes broke down, substitutions were easier and 234 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:19,560 Speaker 1: flights could continue. But in twenty eighteen came the first 235 00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 1: of two deadly crashes involving a Boeing seven three seven Max. 236 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: Neither flight was operated by Southwest, but the authorities grounded 237 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: all aircraft of that type. Seven three seven Maxes made 238 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: up a third of Southwest's fleet, a crippling blow to 239 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:43,080 Speaker 1: its operation that lost it nearly a billion dollars in revenue. 240 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:49,919 Speaker 1: So what you gain in savings can be lost in resilience. 241 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,800 Speaker 1: At Flicksborough, night Pro had discovered the risks of building 242 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 1: one mega factory to make caprolactum. A single cracked reactor 243 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:07,320 Speaker 1: vessel had halted production, disappointing important customers and further delaying 244 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: the day when the troubled plant would turn a profit. 245 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: It's the wonder then, that a solution was hurriedly decided 246 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 1: upon and a temporary fix the bodged together dog leg 247 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: pipe installed. In fact, Nipro was so desperate to get 248 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:28,040 Speaker 1: back to work that the cause of the crack in 249 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: Vessel five wasn't investigated, nor were the other vessels checked 250 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: for the signs of any impending failure. So throughout April 251 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:43,600 Speaker 1: and May of nineteen seventy four, cyclohexane was driven through 252 00:20:43,640 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: the oxidizing system without mishap. The temporary fix the bent 253 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: pipe knocked up on site became permanent. The temporary fix 254 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:59,320 Speaker 1: was folly, but not seeking to upgrade it compounded that error. 255 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:04,760 Speaker 1: Look around your home or car or workplace, you might 256 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: well see a fixture or appliance somewhere that broke and 257 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:13,879 Speaker 1: was quickly repaired in a less than ideal perhaps afraid 258 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,879 Speaker 1: electrical cable was wrapped up with adhesive tape, or an 259 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 1: important office IT system that fell over and was brought 260 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:28,240 Speaker 1: back online with a temporary workaround for every complex problem, 261 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:32,480 Speaker 1: wrote the essayist hl Mencan. There is an answer that 262 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:39,119 Speaker 1: is clear, simple and wrong. Mencan had a point. So 263 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:43,400 Speaker 1: called band aid solutions are tempting, but in the long 264 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 1: run can prove to be more damaging than the problems 265 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,400 Speaker 1: they were meant to solve. Take the example of patching 266 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,359 Speaker 1: up an IT system. You may get everyone in the 267 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,680 Speaker 1: office back up on their computers, but a rushed line 268 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,000 Speaker 1: of code, like a rotten brick in a wall, can 269 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:03,800 Speaker 1: make the whole edifice less sturdy, and a cheap fix 270 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:08,280 Speaker 1: often proves expensive in the longer term. Bodgies and band 271 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:12,640 Speaker 1: aids make it harder to maintain an IT network, then 272 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:18,399 Speaker 1: weeks or months down the line, a catastrophic outage destroys 273 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: your business. It's the same at home. If you're ever 274 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:27,040 Speaker 1: tempted to wrap her frayed electric cable with some tape, don't. 275 00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:33,000 Speaker 1: Here's the advice of the London Fire Brigade. Always replace 276 00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:36,560 Speaker 1: faulty leads. Is it worth risking your loved ones? And 277 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:42,439 Speaker 1: your home for the sake of a few pounds. That's 278 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:46,880 Speaker 1: exactly the kind of advice Loduena Becker's father, who might 279 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:51,560 Speaker 1: have endorsed teenage Loduena and her four brothers remember were 280 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: settling down at home on June the first, nineteen seventy 281 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 1: four to watch football on TV. Their dad, who was 282 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 1: setting off for work at the night Pro plant, but 283 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: paused because he noticed something amiss. Loduena doesn't recall what 284 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: it was, a rattley door handle perhaps, or a loose 285 00:23:11,359 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: paving stone, but she does remember her dad stopping immediately 286 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:19,719 Speaker 1: to put it right. He was always meticulous with keeping 287 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:24,560 Speaker 1: things in good working order, she said. The fix completed, 288 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:30,000 Speaker 1: who began his slightly delayed drive to Flicksborough and his 289 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:37,040 Speaker 1: plant for Who Becker's was Nightpro's general manager and the 290 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:42,440 Speaker 1: man who had green licked that dog legged pipe. Cautionary 291 00:23:42,480 --> 00:24:01,439 Speaker 1: tales will be back in a moment. Dennis Lawrence was 292 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:05,960 Speaker 1: also on the afternoon shift at Nypro that sunny June Saturday. 293 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,119 Speaker 1: It was his term to supply refreshments, so he'd stop 294 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,399 Speaker 1: to pick up some tea and sugar. Dennis enjoyed the 295 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 1: camaraderie of working in the plant's control room. At forty eight. 296 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: He was older than the other lads, who called him Granddad, 297 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 1: but he was a popular member of the team. Indeed, 298 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,679 Speaker 1: he was so avuncular that he had played Santa Claus 299 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: at the staff party the previous Christmas. Dennis was in 300 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 1: a particularly good mood that Summer's day. He had weathered 301 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,919 Speaker 1: some financial difficulties, but had just made the final repayment 302 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: on his bankruptcy debts. He was in the clear at last. 303 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 1: The control room was the brains of the plant and 304 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:52,440 Speaker 1: it never stopped making Capra. Lactam was a twenty four 305 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 1: to seven business, but on a Saturday there was no 306 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,840 Speaker 1: need for nypros, draftsmen, clerks and cooks. Instead of three 307 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:04,160 Speaker 1: hundred workers, only around seventy people were working across the site. 308 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:08,600 Speaker 1: There were men in workshops, storehouses and laboratories dotted all 309 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:12,919 Speaker 1: over the estate. Thomas Cook's the security was on duty. 310 00:25:13,560 --> 00:25:16,600 Speaker 1: A tanker truck driver had parked up at the factory too. 311 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:21,399 Speaker 1: A day or so earlier, several leaks had been detected 312 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:26,480 Speaker 1: in the five remaining reactor vessels. These leaks came and went, 313 00:25:27,119 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 1: seeming to fix themselves. No inspection was made since the 314 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,639 Speaker 1: special spark proved tools needed to work so close to 315 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 1: the flammable cyclohexane had been locked away and couldn't be accessed. 316 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: In the control room, Dennis Lawrence was making the tea 317 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: while his colleagues were diligently monitoring their dials and meters, 318 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: keeping up the constant balancing act to maintain the right 319 00:25:54,880 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: pressure and right temperature to convert cyclohexane into caprolactum. But 320 00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:04,919 Speaker 1: things were much more relaxed in a workshop to the north. 321 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:09,440 Speaker 1: Instrument technician John Irvin hadn't had much to do since 322 00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:13,919 Speaker 1: clocking on at three five PM was fast approaching, so 323 00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:16,919 Speaker 1: he thought he'd start on his packed lunch of sandwiches 324 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:21,639 Speaker 1: before anyone could call to report a faulty gauge. It 325 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:26,360 Speaker 1: made scant progress when a noise boomed across the plant, 326 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:32,040 Speaker 1: followed by a whoosh like the approach of an express train. 327 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,440 Speaker 1: Through the workshop window, John could see men running into 328 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: the control room while others left it with equal urgency. 329 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:44,480 Speaker 1: The technician put down his sandwich and made for the 330 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:49,720 Speaker 1: door to join those fleeing. The first boom John had 331 00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:53,679 Speaker 1: heard was the temporary pipe between reactive vessels four and 332 00:26:53,960 --> 00:27:01,720 Speaker 1: six breaking open. The woosh was pop cyclohexane, escaping into 333 00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:08,000 Speaker 1: the air and forming a vast flammable cloud drifting across 334 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:11,480 Speaker 1: the chemical works. It was only a matter of time 335 00:27:11,600 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: before cloud encountered a spark or flame. You see the 336 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 1: explosion before you hear it, said John, A tsunami of 337 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:28,560 Speaker 1: flame coming towards me at great speed. That's when I screamed, 338 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,359 Speaker 1: and then there was a tremendous gust of wind, and 339 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,800 Speaker 1: I remember being lifted off the ground and then something 340 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: hitting me on the head. When John regained consciousness, the 341 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: workshop had collapsed on him. The ceiling was down, the 342 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:54,159 Speaker 1: walls punched in, windows shattered, and the contents of the 343 00:27:54,240 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 1: room flung around. Fortunately, some sturdy workbenches had withstood the 344 00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:05,239 Speaker 1: blast and sheltered the young technician from being crushed. They 345 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:09,000 Speaker 1: also offered him an escape route, a tunnel to exit 346 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 1: the building. Thus began and a hellish journey. Every one 347 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:20,879 Speaker 1: of John's fingers had been broken, but on hands and 348 00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:27,040 Speaker 1: lacerated knees, he crossed the glass and sharp rubble. I 349 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: crawled and I was screaming, but I couldn't even hear 350 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 1: my own screams. The blast had deafened John. That wasn't 351 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: his most urgent problem, though, because the explosion also left 352 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 1: him blinded. He scrabbled madly from room to room, eventually 353 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:54,000 Speaker 1: finding himself outside. He knew the layout of the plant, 354 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: but now stumbled sightless through an unfamiliar landscape, repeatedly crashing 355 00:28:59,920 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: into unexpected obstacles. Disoriented, John most feared plunging into an 356 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: acid storage pit he knew was somewhere along his route. Miraculously, 357 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:16,680 Speaker 1: he negotiated the catwalk over the acid pool without tottering in. 358 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:23,160 Speaker 1: At that point, I got hopelessly lost, said John. I 359 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: stood up a few times and waved my hands around 360 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:31,960 Speaker 1: and shouted for help. No one answered his cord. Blinded 361 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:38,760 Speaker 1: and surrounded by raging fires, a badly wounded technician slumped 362 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:44,360 Speaker 1: down in the rubble, defeated. I just thought I was 363 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 1: going to die. John then felt a hand on his shoulder. 364 00:29:55,880 --> 00:30:00,520 Speaker 1: On seeing the explosion, two off duty night pro workers 365 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 1: had rushed to the plant, using a broken down door 366 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:10,040 Speaker 1: as a stretcher, and carried John to safety. A volunteer 367 00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:14,200 Speaker 1: ambulance crew had also hurried the disaster, and without anesthetic, 368 00:30:14,560 --> 00:30:17,360 Speaker 1: began to stitch up the worst of the many wounds 369 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 1: across John's face. They managed to clean me up as 370 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 1: best they could, said John, who assumed it was just 371 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: the blood from these cuts that was obscuring his vision. 372 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:35,640 Speaker 1: His injuries would, however, prove to be life changing. Twenty 373 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:44,240 Speaker 1: two year old John Irvin would never see again. Five 374 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:50,400 Speaker 1: miles away, the family of Dennis Lawrence gazed dumbfounded towards 375 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 1: the explosion. Had nypro really gone up? People were phoning 376 00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:01,240 Speaker 1: up to say, that's exactly what had happened. Dennis's daughter 377 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:07,160 Speaker 1: was sure he'd be fine, But missus Lawrence had no illusions. 378 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:14,400 Speaker 1: Your dad isn't coming back, she said, calm as silence 379 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:22,120 Speaker 1: descended on the family home. She was right, and Dennis 380 00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: wasn't the only fatality. Thomas Crooks, the security guard, was dead. 381 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:34,240 Speaker 1: The visiting tanker driver dead too. Across the plant, twenty 382 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:40,040 Speaker 1: eight people had perished. The toll was heaviest in the 383 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:44,800 Speaker 1: control room where Dennis had worked. There were eighteen people 384 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:49,640 Speaker 1: in there. None of them survived, and lost with them 385 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 1: were all the records of what happened leading up to 386 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:59,680 Speaker 1: the blast. It was estimated that the cyclo hexaane ignited 387 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:04,280 Speaker 1: with the force of around thirty tons of TNT easily 388 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:09,800 Speaker 1: the biggest peacetime explosion in British history. It's a miracle then, 389 00:32:10,120 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 1: that no one beyond the factory goes was killed. When 390 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:19,720 Speaker 1: farmer Gordon Atkinson arrived home close to the plant, he 391 00:32:19,800 --> 00:32:25,160 Speaker 1: found his mother shaken, but thankfully alive. It was like 392 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:30,000 Speaker 1: a ghost village, he said. There were curtains blowing out 393 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 1: of broken windows, roofs lifted and set back wrong, fire 394 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:40,800 Speaker 1: raged on at night. Pro for ten full days, and 395 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:45,400 Speaker 1: specialist coal mine rescue teams were drafted in to recover 396 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:50,360 Speaker 1: the buried dead. Factory workers helped in this grim task, 397 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:53,280 Speaker 1: but were sent away for a cup of tea whenever 398 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:58,040 Speaker 1: the corpse of a colleague was uncovered. Nobody got counseling 399 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:02,400 Speaker 1: in those days, said one NCRO employee. He just had 400 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:04,600 Speaker 1: to grin and bear it and get on, and that's 401 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:14,240 Speaker 1: what we did. Questions immediately arose about the wisdom of 402 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:20,440 Speaker 1: Nypro building a cap prolactum megaplant. Stockpiling such vast quantities 403 00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:24,400 Speaker 1: of chemicals on a single site undoubtedly resulted in the 404 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:29,520 Speaker 1: huge scale of the explosion. The shockwaves of the disaster 405 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:35,400 Speaker 1: spread far beyond rural Lincolnshire, with its sole caprolactum maker 406 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: reduced to rubble, the already shaky UK economy tottered iiO 407 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:45,800 Speaker 1: Vast sums were wiped off the stock market as chemical companies, 408 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:50,200 Speaker 1: textile weavers and carpet makers faced a draft of raw materials. 409 00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:53,520 Speaker 1: There was even a run on nylon stockings in the 410 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:58,480 Speaker 1: shops as consumers panic boart ahead of looming shortages and 411 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:05,200 Speaker 1: expected price rises. Hoobe Becker's, the general manager at Nipro, 412 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:09,880 Speaker 1: had missed the explosion by a few minutes thanks to 413 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,719 Speaker 1: a decision to stop for a little bit of DIY 414 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:17,400 Speaker 1: before leaving home. He now set about defending the safety 415 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:22,320 Speaker 1: culture at his plant, likening it to the stringent procedures 416 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:27,240 Speaker 1: observed at say, a nuclear power plant. When a court 417 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:32,280 Speaker 1: of inquiry was convened, Hoop gave detailed evidence and supplied 418 00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:36,120 Speaker 1: copious notes about the decision to replace reactor Vessel five 419 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:40,839 Speaker 1: with a temporary pipe. He argued that all necessary protocols 420 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:48,279 Speaker 1: had been followed. The inquiry, though hampered by the total 421 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:52,080 Speaker 1: destruction of data from the control room, concluded that there 422 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 1: had been a litany of errors in the design, construction 423 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:03,120 Speaker 1: and installation of that pipe. The integrity of a well 424 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:08,920 Speaker 1: designed and constructed plant was thereby destroyed redits report. In 425 00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:14,120 Speaker 1: other words, a cheap band aid solution had devastated a 426 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:19,400 Speaker 1: multi million pound operation, claiming many lives in the process. 427 00:35:21,280 --> 00:35:25,800 Speaker 1: No one faced prosecution for the blast. Health and safety 428 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:30,400 Speaker 1: legislation was still being debated in Britain's Parliament, but the 429 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:35,520 Speaker 1: night pro blast informed the formulation of these new laws. Henceforth, 430 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:39,880 Speaker 1: no one could install such a flimsy pipe and still 431 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:47,800 Speaker 1: claim they'd followed the rules. The Flicksburgh plant was rebuilt, 432 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:52,960 Speaker 1: this time with greater attention to safety and survivability. The 433 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:56,440 Speaker 1: control room, for example, would be placed further from danger 434 00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:01,960 Speaker 1: and built to withstand any future explosion, and the new boss, 435 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:07,239 Speaker 1: same as the old boss. Hooper Becker's stayed on as 436 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:10,800 Speaker 1: the general manager, and his family remained in the area. 437 00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:17,440 Speaker 1: His teenage daughter Luduena enrolled in the local college. Walking 438 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:20,239 Speaker 1: into the common room, she noticed another student in a 439 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:25,120 Speaker 1: T shirt. One of his arms was extremely scarred, she 440 00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:30,440 Speaker 1: remembers from his hand right up to the sleeve. Loudweena 441 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:35,640 Speaker 1: asked the boy what had happened. His reply was simple 442 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:50,480 Speaker 1: and direct. Your dad's factory did that. For a full 443 00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:54,360 Speaker 1: list of our sources, see the show notes at Timharford 444 00:36:54,480 --> 00:37:02,960 Speaker 1: dot com. Cautionary Tales is written by me Tim Harford 445 00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:07,760 Speaker 1: with Andrew Wright, Alice Fines, and Ryan Dilly. It's produced 446 00:37:07,760 --> 00:37:11,480 Speaker 1: by Georgia Mills and Marilyn Rust. The sound design and 447 00:37:11,560 --> 00:37:16,440 Speaker 1: original music of the work of Pascal wise Bender. Dafhaffrey 448 00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:20,440 Speaker 1: edited the scripts. The show also wouldn't have been possible 449 00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:24,400 Speaker 1: without the work of Jacob Weisberg, Greta Cohne, Eric Sandler, 450 00:37:24,920 --> 00:37:31,400 Speaker 1: Carrie Brody, Christina Sullivan, Kira Posey, and Owen Miller. Cautionary 451 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:34,880 Speaker 1: Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. If you like 452 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:39,200 Speaker 1: the show, please remember to share, rate, and review. It 453 00:37:39,239 --> 00:37:42,520 Speaker 1: really does make a difference to us and if you 454 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:45,920 Speaker 1: want to hear it, add free and receive a bonus 455 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:51,120 Speaker 1: audio episode, video episode, and members only newsletter every month. 456 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:55,319 Speaker 1: Why not join the Cautionary Club. To sign up, head 457 00:37:55,360 --> 00:38:00,080 Speaker 1: to Patreon dot com slash Cautionary Club. That's Patreon, p 458 00:38:00,239 --> 00:38:08,080 Speaker 1: A t R e o N dot com Slash Cautionary Club. 459 00:38:13,040 --> 00:38:22,239 Speaker 2: Inspectives exp