"Despite wearing protective clothing, the man suffered severe burns"

The importance of wearing proper personal protection equipment when working near or with molten aluminium cannot be understated. It does not matter if you are working with a few kilograms of molten metal or thousands of kilograms of molten metal. History has shown us countless examples of workers who perished when working with thousands of kilograms and only few kilograms. Here is a recent incident emphasizing the need for proper protection when working around molten metal.

An industrial accident occurred at an European company one morning during the week of January 5, 2020. Two workers - 61 and 35 years old - filled sand casting facilities with liquid aluminum. The liquid aluminum suddenly splashes back and the 61-year-old was seriously injured. Although he wore protective clothing, the result was severe burns. The emergency doctor took over the primary care, then he was brought to a nearby hospital.

We pray that the injured worker recovers fully from their injuries. We have posted numerous similar incidents that have occurred in the foundry and die-casting industry. Why? Because in our opinion many (not all!) foundries and die-casting factories require PPE that would not be allowed in other areas of industry. In our opinion some of the required clothing is dangerous. Why ? Because it provides the workers with a false sense of security. Many times the foundry and die-casting industry use of aprons results in workers being burned on their back and buttocks region. That protection is not good enough. When confronted with this opinion the rebuttal is always “we’ve never had an incident” or “our workers have to move around a lot so they need movement in their clothing”. We respond with it simply does not matter, all obstacles can be overcome. When working with or around molten metal clothing should protect the entire body and do not leave any area exposed.

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