"phantom value" attributed to

The hazards of chemical burns is mitigated on a daily basis successfully throughout our industry. A number of years ago the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog posted numerous incidents involving burns (e.g., molten metal, chemical, steam, etc). Then we went through a period of time where we heard of no incidents. We acknowledge that it did not mean no incidents were occurring, but we just never heard of anything. Which was great. We would rather never post an incident involving an injury or fatality. Sadly, here is an incident from last year involving steam burns.

A worker from a contractor, was seriously injured one day in August 2019 after suffering major burns while working. According to information provided by the multinational's communication office, the accident occurred around two in the afternoon in the Digestion department, which is located at the Alumina plant.  s soon as it occurred and had knowledge of it, the Emergency Plan of the factory located in (Europe) was launched, through which the operator was assisted by the smelter’s own medical services.

He was then transferred first by ambulance to a local hospital 10 kilometers (to East), and from this to another hospital 160 kilometers (to the West) according to the same sources, who indicated that the life of man is not in danger. (Aluminium company) points out that she is very sorry for what happened, is in continuous contact with both the hospital and (contractor company) to know the status and evolution of the injured worker. He has also opened an investigation to know the causes of the event. Other sources indicated that in the same accident a second worker was injured. However, from (aluminium company) they point out that, although there was an operator nearby, it was not affected.

______News Media article published a few months after the incident________

Due to the injuries he suffered last June 2019 at the smelter in (Europe), a worker from a contracting company working at the alumina-aluminum factory, continues in the Burned Unit of a hospital. According to the aluminium company committee, "because of the root cause" of this serious accident at work in the Department of Digestion. In a note describing the accident in which an operator was burned with steam condensate, the aluminium company committee states that it calls the valve as a ghost "for not being flat." He adds that it had been "installed five years " before. The union representatives also assure that this valve was not on drawings.

We pray that the individual worker recovers fully from their burns. We are happy that the worker appears to be recovering. We pray that the worker continues to recover from his injuries.

The last news media article talked about a “phantom value”. For whatever reason the value malfunctioned or was not closed and steam exited injuring the worker. We are unsure on the terminology of a phantom value. We assume it is a value that was not listed on the blueprints of the plant. We have posted numerous incidents where incomplete blueprints were a factor in the incident. This is an issue commonly associated with older plants. Older plants have undergo modification, renovation, etc and keeping track and inventory of the latest blue prints is sometimes tough. When blueprints are lost or misplaced hazards can become hidden. It appears that this value if known would have been properly dealt with. Because it was hidden from the drawings it was not and a worker was severely injured.

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