A European
Aluminium plant suffered a horrible accident when two workers lost their lives
inside a preheat oven. The employees were last seen exiting the oven after they cleaned it. Unbeknownst to anyone the workers returned and entered the oven
failing to follow any of the preset safety guidelines for that facility (such
as log out tag out procedures). Somehow the oven door closed trapping the
workers inside.
A
colleague who previously saw those two workers outside earlier, noticed that the
oven door was closed. That worker assumed the cleaning of the interior of the
oven was finished and preheated the oven.
Eventually,
the oven reached a temperature of 800º C (1472 º F). More than an hour passed
before the two workers absence was noticed and a search began. Their charred
and blackened bodies were found on the oven floor. Police
spokesperson said the pair, a veteran employee and a temporary worker, would
have known what was about to happen as hot air began to flood the chamber. The
dead men tried to rip insulation off the walls and clawed at the door in a
desperate bid to escape.
A
police spokesperson said, "Because of the intense heat at some point the
men's clothes caught fire and from there their bodies were burned. At the
moment we are trying to work out how the door was closed and how it ended up
being switched on. It could have been done manually or by remote control."
So many of
us have sat in pre-job meetings when logout tagout procedures are reviewed. The
safety officer explains what equipment will be lockout and who will have authorization to remove the lockout(s). Overtime the importance of these
meetings is diminished and sometimes ignored. This story illustrates how
important following lockout tagout procedures are.
The
Occupational & Health Safety Administration (OSHA)
2 comments:
Again something that might be avoided with LOTO procedures.
LOCK out Tag out.
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