"Seven people were rushed to hospital....one died...."

The hazard of aluminium dust/fines/shavings has only been acknowledged over the past 15 years. Prior to that aluminium dust and fines were simply considered a housekeeping issue. It was not until a few incidents made international news that this housekeeping issue became a safety issue. At the same time when the explosions started occurring government safety organizations took action too. Sadly, the Aluminium Plant Safety Blog reports on several dust/fine explosions annually. Here is a recent incident highlight this hazard.

 

An explosion and fire at one of (country name omitted) key defense prime aerospace facilities left one person dead and six injured today, Wednesday, December 29.

At 10:12 am, an explosion at the (name omitted) facility shook buildings in the surrounding district in a city in a country in East Asia.

 

According to reports, a dust explosion occurred due to an accumulation of aluminium alloy dust in a dust collection area. Local Fire Department dispatched units from (four fire departments) and other fire stations.

 

Seven people were rushed to hospital, one person who lost vital signs at the scene of the accident was later declared dead at a local hospital. Another person suffered first and second degree burns to his face and limbs. The other five were reported to have suffered slight injuries.

 

The company manufactures components for aviation companies. Air Force officials said this afternoon that the area where the accident occurred did not affect the factory buildings involved in manufacturing jets or ​​overhauls and would have no impact on progress.

 

The company told reporters that the cause of the accident is still under investigation.

The Labor Inspection Office stated that according to their understanding following a preliminary investigation, there was a problem with the aluminum-magnesium alloy cutting operation at the site. The company will be ordered to suspend work, and fined up to 41,000 Euros in accordance with the law.

 

We offer our sincere condolences to the deceased workers family, friends, and coworkers. We pray that the injured workers all recover fully from their injuries.

 

The news article provides minimal details stating that the preliminary investigation is centered around a cutting operation. The photos provide some clues. The photo of the dust collector torn apart from the explosion is interesting. Most incidents occur when an ignition source is introduced into the dust collector system. That flame travels to the dust collector resulting in an explosion. We do not know where the workers were located at the time of the explosion. The photo of the dust collector does show it is unguarded (not fenced in). We always recommend that, if possible, dust collectors need to be located outside of a building and placed a distance away from the outside walls. Why? Because there have been numerous incidents where dust collectors caught on fire and spread to the adjacent building.

 

We will update this story when further information is comes out.

 

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