"splashed on to them....setting their pants on fire....."

The importance of personal protective (i.e., PPE) clothing cannot be understated. PPE is the last layer of defense for the worker against molten metal. Here is a recent story where the worker was not wearing the proper PPE.

An employee at aluminium die-casting company suffered second degree burns after an industrial accident one night during the week of December 14, 2014 in the Midwest United States.

According to the local police department, the incident happened when crews were pouring molten aluminum into a cast at the company.

Officials said when one employee went to turn off the equipment, the substance (molten metal) continued to come out and splashed onto another worker, setting their pants on fire and burning them. The victim was transported to a local hospital for treatment.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog prays that the injured worker make a full recovery of all physical and metal injuries. We acknowledge that after the physical injuries heal the mental injuries may last.

The APSB has noticed that some die-casting companies’ emphasis on proper molten metal resistant clothing is not in align with our industry’s best practices toward safety. Which is employees who work with or in close proximity to molten metal wear the appropriate safety clothing.

For many in our industry the variety of clothing (i.e., fabric types) is overwhelming. How does a company sort through all the fabric types to determine which is the best for their intended use? The large corporations have the resources (e.g., manpower, funding, etc.) to conduct extensive trials to determine which fabric type is best suited for them. But for smaller companies who lack the resources determining which fabric is best suited for them is much more difficult. The Aluminum Association (AA) undertook a study looking at fabric types. The extensive study resulted in a report titled, “Resistance of Protective Fabrics to Molten Aluminium and Bath Splash and Their Comfort Properties.” The AA’s description of this study is “The report finalizes four years of effort at The Aluminum Association to provide aluminum producers with independent, quantified data on fabrics, so that safety personnel can make informed decisions regarding the materials they utilize for the protection of employees (115 pages). The study was carried out by Dr. Roger Barker, of North Carolina State University, College of Textiles. For more detailed information, please contact Chuck Johnson at The Aluminum Association.”

The APSB recommends that each and every facility test the fabric prior to purchasing. One recent method that the APSB observed was ingenuous for its simplicity and ease of being copied.

First, ask the clothing seller for a section of fabric (e.g., 1 square meter). Place the fabric on a section of cardboard on top of suran wrap. Set the clothing/suran wrap/cardboard at a 45 degree angle and pour a small amount of molten metal on it. Make sure whomever is pouring the molten metal is where primary clothing protection. Your observation should include but limited to; did the metal stick, did the fabric shrink, did the saran wrap melt, did the cardboard burn/blacken. The APSB has heard of some aluminium companies that have used chickens to test the effectiveness of clothing. Don't worry live chickens are not harmed in this test. A processed chicken is obtained from the butcher or grocery store. The chicken is placed against the fabric. Molten metal is poured on the fabric and the chicken is examined to see if the corresponding temperature affected the chicken. These are two ways that aluminium companies have used to test their clothing fabric. No matter what your individual plant does, it is recommend that you do test all fabric prior to committing it to your workers to wear.

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