In 1983, I encountered a sweet smell that should have been my last breath. At 300,000 parts per million of hydrogen sulfide, the exposure was exponentially beyond fatal levels. Yet here I am.
"Chuck shouldn't be here now. Chuck should be dead... all those workers that went down there to rescue Chuck, they all should be dead... that's all I can say with the amount of H2S they were exposed to."
Fresh out of college, with my oil field knowledge coming from "The Beverly Hillbillies," I made a decision that defied my supervisors – and somehow lived to tell about it.
What happened that day transformed me from an "ignorant college boy" into one of the nation's leading H2S experts. But more importantly, it revealed hard truths about safety culture that the industry needed to hear.
As James recalls: "When I first got into the oil field, this guy that taught the H2S class - everything you did, you gonna die. If you get out the truck, and you're thinking about your momma, and you're not thinking about H2S, you're going to die. You gonna die die, die, die, die. I was so stressed out after 4 hours of that course, I told my wife, I'm going back into the Navy. They're killing people in the oil and gas industry. I felt like I needed a strong drink and Xanax after that H2S course. Scaring people is not the goal... but you do need a healthy fear and awareness of this chemical."
Listen to the full episode to discover how this brush with death revolutionized H2S safety practices.
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THE RISK MATRIX
Cutting-edge podcast on occupational safety and risk management.
Hosted by industry titans:
JAMES JUNKIN, MS, CSP, MSP, SMS, ASP, CSHO
DR. L.F. MARTIN, PhD, MBA, PMP, CIH, CSP, MSP, CHMM
Every Tuesday: Critical insights from safety experts. Real-world strategies. Actionable solutions.
Presented by Veriforce: Bringing workers home safe from high-hazard jobs.
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