"his overalls caught fire...fire hydrant was turned off (for repairs)....."

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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