Two Workers Die In Oven Turned on By Coworker

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) 

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/controlhazardousenergy/index.html