I'd like to add that your company doesn't need a hero. The road to widespread catastrophic failure is long and no single person walks it in its entirety. Every employee should be able to individually take routine actions and make routine mistakes without mission failure or loss of life/limb. Preventing these things requires a mindset where your entire company is a system, and if failure isn't an option, the entire system needs to reflect that. Do your part in making a robust company, but don't tear yourself up when your company finds out that stupid is as stupid does.

I want you to know that I appreciate this comment far more than you could ever know, and you are absolutely right.

At the time, it was not just a job. It was a passion with a bar rising much faster than I could rise to the occasion. Simultaneously, my personal life was slowly falling apart, from family and loved ones in need, and the result was eventual failure leading to me being terminated. Luckily, it was one of the best events that has ever happened to me. I was able to land in a much better role almost immediately, which eventually catapulted my career and assisted in me being able to become financially independent as well as pivot into a domain with immensely improved work life balance. Importantly, I recognize I got lucky. It could’ve easily gone the other way, with me giving up both professionally and personally (yeeting myself from this plane of existence).

So, I not only violently echo your comment to others who come across this thread, I will go further to say that sometimes when you’re going through hell, if you keep going, there is light at the other end. It is just a job, it is okay to ask for help, and failure is when you stop trying to get back up, not when you get knocked down.

As in this case, it clearly had a huge impact on people. You can't say it's just a job when people can die because of you.