[samplatt]

"Funny" story along the same lines from an alumina refinery I worked at.

Part of alumina requires use of a lot of extremely corrosive sodium hydroxide liquid, which eats through aluminium like the acid blood from Aliens. A neutralizing agent was developed that could be quickly applied to burns from the liquid, delivered via a pressurised can that workers would keep on their person at all times.

The material the pressurised can was made of? Aluminium, of course.

The sight of the safety superintendent swaggering around a chemical refinery with essentially a grenade attached to his belt for a couple of weeks before they realised the danger, was my first real eye-opener to how people can be promoted FAR past their level of competence.