While wrapping up a 2023 project, I was saddened to see the image below while in the OSHA incident database. Several things come to mind regarding these H2S incidents:
1) no other chemical in the database has this deadly percentage over the past three (3) years
2) Hydrogen Sulfide has GREAT warning properties (odor threshold 0.008 to 0.1 ppm), but with that also comes Olfactory Fatigue (@ 100 ppm)
3) One might suspect these were Permit-Required Confined Space accidents, but many occurred outside a PRCS
4) Several of the deaths were due to H2S being a FLAMMABLE GAS; yes, H2S is both HIGHLY TOXIC and EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE
And the one thing that may be a driver of these deaths…
5) in the vast majority of these deaths, the H2S was CREATED NATURALLY. It was not released from a cylinder/container for shipping or storage of H2S!