As seen in the video below, a drum is clearly labeled FLAMMABLE with its red placard suspended over a plastic IBC (i.e., tote). The Orange County Fire Investigation Unit determined that “static electricity caused a flammable liquid to ignite” inside the cosmetic manufacturing facility on November 20, 2017. The cause was ruled as an accident. The explosion is said to have taken place during the manufacturing process when a “worker was wiping excess product in the batch room.” I would bet that the wiping was NOT the generator of the static (although it would generate it over time – the flash occurred as soon as the worker touched the tote); rather what appears to be “splash filling” seen in the video is a better candidate to generate the static in the plastic tote. Here is my analysis of this event…