Thirty years ago the use of fire
resistant clothing was uncommon. Many incidents involving a worker’s clothing
catching on fire either resulted in serious burns or death. These incidents
have become a rarity with the prevalent use of fire resistant clothing in our
industry. Here is a recent story that emphasizes the need for the mandatory use
of fire resistant clothing in our industry.
A worker who suffered serious burns
while doing gas-cutting work at a scrap metal company in the South Pacific is
to receive €15,400 in court-ordered reparation from his employer. The scrap metal
company was also fined €40,000.
The man was cutting wire rope with a
gas-cutter in late 2014 when his overalls caught fire. He went to use a fire
hose to douse the flames – but the council had cut the water off while it
repaired a near-by fire hydrant. The scrap metal company has been given two
days warning that the water would be cut off, but the worker had not been told.
When he could not get water out of
the hose he called for help and a colleague grabbed some wet rags from a shed
to smother the flames. The man suffered serious burns and spent more than a
week in hospital.
The scrap metal company failed to
notify the government safety agency that its worker had suffered serious harm
as a result of an incident at work. Instead the government safety agency was
notified 13 days after the incident by the worker’s wife.
The scrap metal company pleaded guilty
to two charges under the Health and Safety in Employment Act (1992), one under
Sections 6 and 50(1)(a) for failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the
safety of the man while at work and a second charge under Sections 25(3)(a) and
50(1)(b) for failing to notify the proper authorities. It was sentenced today
in court.
The government safety organization’s
chief inspector, says the company should have had a process in place that would
have required that fire extinguishers and water were available whenever a gas
cutter was in use. A safety observer is also a good idea.
“If you’re doing
anything where there is a real risk of fire you have to be prepared to put it
out. Given that the water was off that day it would have been prudent to avoid
gas-cutting work altogether.
“This case also
highlights the importance of proper personal protective equipment such as
leather leggings and spats to reduce the chances of clothing catching fire.
“The company also
failed to notify (the proper authorities) about this incident, as it was
legally required to do. We were only made aware of it when the victim’s wife
contacted us 13 days after the incident.
“It’s important that the proper
authorities are informed about such incidents so that they can be followed up
and investigated where appropriate,” says the government safety organization’s
chief Inspector.
The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog prays
that the workers burns have fully healed without any scarring. We hope that the
injured worker is provide mental health counseling if needed by the worker. The
injuries suffered in this incident would have been lessoned if the worker was
wearing fire resistant clothing.
The fire hydrant that the worker tried to
use to put the fire out was inoperable because of maintenance. The company was
warned, but that warning was not told to all the employees. It should have
been. Does your company tell all its employees if a safety mechanism is not
working?
For unknown reasons the company failed to
notify immediately the proper authorities immediately after the incident. More
and more countries require employers to notify immediately an accident involving
a fatality or that requires hospitalization to the proper authorities. Do you
know if and when you need to notify your government safety organization of an
incident? If you do not, you should find out immediately.
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