Two workers lose consciousness in confined space: ...

There are numerous different types of compressed gases that are used in production processes in our plants. The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted incidents involving compressed gas safety. This incident involves two hazards; compressed gas and confined space. Here is the recent story:

A metal processing company in the Western United States was fined over € 64,000 for serious safety violations following a March 2016 confined space accident in which a worker was asphyxiated. Government safety investigators found the metal processing company failed to comply with confined space regulations that resulted in the serious illness.

A company supervisor sent an untrained production assistant into a pressure vessel furnace to perform maintenance on it. The assistant did not have an oxygen sensor with him when he descended into the unit, which is only 49 inches wide and 98 inches tall, and was filled with argon gas. Argon is a noble gas that is chemically inert under most conditions and is colorless, odorless, and much heavier than air.

When the worker was overcome by the argon gas and collapsed inside the unit, a second worker went in after him and became dizzy and lost consciousness. A third employee then took a nearby fan and blew fresh air into the confined space, which provided air to breathe. The first worker spent four days in a hospital receiving treatment for his illness, and the second employee was transported to the hospital and was treated and released.

“Confined spaces can be deceptively dangerous,” said an OSHA spokesman. “Employers must take special precautions to evaluate and monitor the hazards and prepare for emergency rescues.”

OSHA cited the company for nine safety violations including three serious, three serious accident-related and three general in nature These violations involved the company’s failure to identify permit-required confined spaces, train the employees to safely perform their work in these confined spaces, failure to monitor the atmospheric conditions in a confined space during maintenance, and failure to develop effective rescue and emergency procedures for rescuing endangered employees from confined spaces.

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog prays that the injured workers recover fully from their injuries.

On a personal note we have experienced the dangers of Argon gas. A number of years ago we received a late night cell phone call from an aluminium casthouse informing us that two workers were asphyxiated while performing maintenance 15 meters below ground in a d.c. casting pit. Upon receiving the message we called our contact back. No answer. We called again. No answer. So we prayed. Two days later we got a call back and was told that two workers assumed incorrectly that the airline they were hooking into their face masks was oxygen. It was not oxygen, it was Argon. Both workers were overcome immediately. Their helper realized what had occurred and ran to unplug the airlines from the plant piping. That helper saved those two workers lives. Never, ever make assumptions.

The Aluminium Times had a recent article about confined space hazards.

Argon gas is odorless, colorless and heavier than air. A worker can quickly become overcome by the gas and death by asphyxiation. Here is an informational article about working safely with Argon gas. 

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