"failed safety valve .... caused a spill of melted aluminum.."

The accidental release of molten metal from its intended container can have myriad of results. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted incidents where the escaped molten metal did nothing, resulted in a fire (which burned down the facility), resulted in an explosion (which destroyed the factory), etc. The quantity of molten metal has little effect on the final outcome. The APSB has posted incidents where 15 kilograms of spilled molten metal burned down a factory. Here is a recent story about a molten metal spill:

Fire crews responded to aluminum die-casting company one day during the week of October 4, 2015 Thursday after a failed safety valve in the facility caused a spill of melted aluminum.

Local fire said crews from four different fire stations arrived on the scene at 12:48 p.m. The local fire chief said the nature of the molten aluminum required a special extinguishers that emits a dry sand. The aluminium company keeps some of those extinguisher on site.

Crews were able to hit the emergency stop button on the machine to stop the flow of aluminum. The local fire chief said water was used to cool the machine. There was no damage to the building, but all employees were evacuated. The fire was contained within an hour.

One employee, taken to the hospital for possible smoke inhalation, was treated and released.

The Aluminim Plant Safety Blog prays that the injured worker recovers fully from the smoke inhalation that he/she suffered.

This media story states that “the fire was contained within an hour”. Which brings the APSB to wonder on how many Class D fire extinguishers this company had in stock. Aluminium companies should never assume that local fire departments will have enough fire extinguishers if an emergency occurs. The APSB recommends that all aluminium plants reach out to the local fire departments to begin a discussion on what will occur when (not if) an incident occurs.

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