"Four (people) suffered burn injuries.....in a blast"

The use of nitrogen in removing hydrogen from molten metal is commonplace throughout our industry. This incident shows the potential hazard in the storage of hydrogen in our plants. Here is a recent story emphasizing this hazard.

As many as four persons, including three labourers and a woman, living in the adjacent quarters, suffered burn injuries after a blast took place at an aluminium casting factory today in India. The police said a nitrogen cylinder exploded due to high pressure which resulted in injuries to the workers who were attending to their task at the spot. They were immediately admitted to a private hospital.

The injured workers have been identified as (omitted), (omitted), (omitted) and (omitted), and are believed to be now out of danger.

The blast took place at 12 noon. The police reached the spot immediately after learning of the incident. Of the four injured workers, two suffered 40 per cent and 30 per cent burn injuries, respectively, while the remaining two also suffered burn injuries which were less severe. As per the information, the tin roof sheets also collapsed after the explosion.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, who was also investigating the case, said the labourers were unfit to record their statements. “They are taking medications and cannot speak for now. We will record their statements once they are fine,” said the DSP.

“We had visited the spot, it was an industrial accident and preliminary investigations have revealed that the blast occurred due to high pressure in the cylinder. The actual reason will only be ascertained after proper investigation and a person who is technically sound will be able to tell the real reason,” he said.

Station House Officer said investigation was on and the statements of the victims will be recorded when they recover.

We pray that the injured workers recover fully from their injuries.

All too often when portable compressed cylinders explode. Fatalities result. Thankfully that was not the case here, and we pray that the workers recover fully. As well as the nearby resident that was injured in this accident.

The importance of proper handling and storage of portable compressed cylinders can never be understated. We have learned at the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog that the failure to follow the industry’s best practices toward safety will eventually result in an incident. Always.

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