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Equipment designed today are in many ways safer then before. Nevertheless, molten aluminium explosions can occur without warning. Today's equipment has been designed to minimize if not eliminate the operator from being on top of the tooling during cast. Unfortunately, there are a lot of older equipment still in use (and will always be) that because of their design requires employees to be on top (or nearby) of the tooling during cast.
Only essential personal should be allowed in cast houses, especially during cast. All employees in the cast house (as well as visitors) should be wearing the proper personal protection equipment. The Aluminium Association (AA) has taken the lead in sponsoring and coordinating cloth testing. An informative article about ppe clothing from the AA can be found here. There also is a great document titled "Resistance of Protective Fabrics to Molten Aluminium and Bath" which can be purchased here.
In addition to wearing the proper ppe, the aluminium industry's best practices for safety is the use of Wise Chem products (which can be found here) wherever molten aluminium has the potential to come into contact with bare concrete, steel, and stainless steel substrates.
The APSB mantra is not to place blame on the company nor the injured worker(s), but the hope that awareness of the accidents bring education and prevent of recurrence. All posts are based on media sources (e.g., radio, tv, newspaper, etc.), no posts are based on 2nd hand sources, or gossip.
Therefore the aluminium company, executive and the workers in this story are not named, nor the country where the plant was located.
Here is the story.
The APSB mantra is not to place blame on the company nor the injured worker(s), but the hope that awareness of the accidents bring education and prevent of recurrence. All posts are based on media sources (e.g., radio, tv, newspaper, etc.), no posts are based on 2nd hand sources, or gossip.
Therefore the aluminium company, executive and the workers in this story are not named, nor the country where the plant was located.
Here is the story.
During the week May 26, 2013 a chairman of an aluminium company and two laborers sustained injuries in an accident at its smelter plant.
Sources said the chairman had visited the smelter as the new ingot casting machine was to be run on a trial basis.
While the trial was being carried out, suddenly due to a blast, hot liquid metal fell on the chairman and the two laborers. They were treated at the company's facilities. (There is no further information on the injured)
The employees alleged that poor maintenance of equipment is the cause behind regular occurrence of such mishaps.
No other hazard has such a prolonged effect on the aluminium industry in terms injuries and loss of production as do molten aluminium explosions.
Though there is little information provided in this story, what information there is, speaks volumes.
The APSB hopes that all of the injured in this story recover fully.
Please Comment.
The incidence must be thoroughly investigated by the independent Investigator to determine the cause/s behind the explosion and the Report must be given to the Plant Safety Committee. I have pretty good idea what must have gone wrong to have had such explosion. I like to give my conclusions, if I have been provided with complete details including photos of the incidence and statements of people at the sight, and possibly allow to see the sight and operation where explosion took place.. This is very serious and steps must be taken to avoid it at all cost.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments, one hopes this explosion was investigated to determine the root cause. Every explosion (no matter the size) needs to be investigated.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds very much like it was in a Chinese plant. Do you know?
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ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. Yes the APSB knows the plant. But, we have decided not to name the plant nor the country.
ReplyDeleteNormally explosion don't occur every day .why on chairman's visit day. what really went wrong .Now what are corrective measures taken to avoid future damages to workers living 24x7 Near cast house. pl inform for safety of others
ReplyDeleteThanks you for the comments. The APSB does not have answers to your questions. I agree a vast majority of cast houses in our industry do not have explosions on a daily basis. Some cast houses have not had an explosion in years.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, in our industry there are explosions on a daily basis in cast houses somewhere. The explosions vary in size and ferocity. There are so many explosions that if the APSB posted what we were told occurred, there would be not enough time in the day to post them all. Therefore the APSB only posts the incidents that make the media.
It is important for the cast houses that do not have explosions to understand the hazard of molten metal explosions. It is equally important for these plants to understand that there is a reason on why their supervisors tell them to perform a process in a certain manner and/or certain order.
As well as it is important for the plants that do have explosions on a regular basis to understand that is not common in our industry. The best industry practices is to investigate all explosions, no matter their size and determine the root cause(s) and to develop a plan to eliminate reoccurance.
Was the Chairman wearing the proper PPI and also in an area where only properly authorized and trained personnel should be? If he wasn't either because he felt the rules didn't apply, people were afraid to enforce the regulations, etc. then the company has an issue of culture stemming at the very top.
ReplyDeleteProvável, que foi encontro de metal quente, com água ou a bandeja revestida de refratário ainda úmido que causou a explosão. Se não foi feita uma sinterização adequada nesse revestimento de bandeja, o risco de explosão é muito grande.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders how the chairman was promoted to that position without knowing and following all safety rules.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders secondly whether the proper safety rules were in place initially.
One wonders thirdly what message the chairman was sending, when he appeared in a hazardous location without ALL safety equipment.
Molten zinc is nowhere near as hot as molten aluminum. Yet I have been in galvanizing operations and would have been sprayed in the face with molten zinc had I not been standing in a safety station, which by the way was in poor condition. I immediately went to the front office and insisted they put a safety shield on my hard hat.
I then went to the chairman's office and told him the plant manager should be told he had one week to relocate the safety station which was constantly blasted by molten zinc.
Never did it. The next person got molten zinc in her ear.
The financial cost of that got the chairman's attention.
Thank you for the comments. The APSB has not viewed this aluminium company's stock after the incident occurred and the news media publicized it. One would suspect the stock dropped for a short period of time (due to the intial reports that the chairman was injured, but extent of injuries unknown). What the cost of the stock drop will be interesting to find out. The economics of safety sometimes are not considered.
ReplyDeleteWould appreciate more information as to the location of the facility, the amount of time the facility had been in operation and whether any other incidents have been reported recently.
ReplyDeleteHow many buyers of castings understand the Safety Management process and Safety Record of supplier foundries?
ReplyDeleteIs it acceptable to get your product (castings in this case) produced where the process endangers workers to accidents such as above or longer term diseases such as silicosis, vibration white finger, noise etc.?
Often technology is available to fully or partially eliminate some of the dangerous operations that only the 'toughest' workers will tackle in the foundry. Generally this saves costs, increases productivity and quality at same time.
I agree with APSB, good safety is morally right, and could make more money as well.
Normally explosion happen when there is any moisture present in the casting mould or where molten metal to be poured.It is better to always heat the mould before casting and ensure no moisture in mould.We have to take it seriously because explosion can made a big accident.
ReplyDeleteRespected Sir,
ReplyDeleteYour sugitions is very good
Being a chairman or an operator , the basic rule is that before you enter any work area, you should have the required ppe worn and if you are a visitor some induction should be done and be guided by regular personnel in the area to avoid accidents.
ReplyDeleteMaintenance and operational practices are other things to look at.