"A worker was seriously injured in an explosion and fire ....."

 

Our sincere hope is that no worker ever experiences any hazard resulting in an injury. That is why so many companies tell us they use our posts as toolbox topics. Sadly, here is a future toolbox topic involving molten metal explosions.

A worker was seriously injured in an explosion and fire at a local aluminum plant early one morning during the week of April 17, 2022.

The victim had been operating a piece of machinery when water came into contact with a byproduct of smelted aluminum, causing an explosion at (company name and location omitted), said Captain of the (local) Fire (department).

About 25 to 30 workers were standing outside when firefighters arrived at 2:54 a.m.

As medics took the victim with serious injuries to a Hospital in 32 kilometers away, firefighters began to battle the blaze, fire captain said.

The company smelts aluminum into ingots which are then shipped out, he said. The byproduct that comes after the smelting process is what came into contact with the water.

The incident resulted in damage to the ceiling of the metal building and to a loader, fire captain said.

A dozen firefighters with two trucks were able to contain the damage to one end of the building.

No one else was injured.

We pray that this worker recovers fully from his injuries. We know that the injured worker was an machinery operator. We also learn that the explosion resulted “when water came into contact with a byproduct of smelted aluminum”. We hate to make assumptions but with the information provided we assume that the “byproduct” was dross. Explosions resulting from dross are common and we have posted numerous incidents. If our assumption is correct, then why did the operator get injured? We make another assumption is that the injured worker was operator a piece of machinery that was not enclosed. When the explosion occurred, the hot dross landed on the worker. We wonder in the worker was operating the compact loader in the photo below from the news article.

 

Though we do not know if the compact front end loader was used in the incident or not. Regardless, it should go without saying that only enclosed machinery should be operated in workplaces handling/processing molten metal. That includes the moving of dross.

Now let’s discuss the fire. The explosion ignited a combustible. It took awhile but the fire department personnel were able to extinguish the blaze. What we are interested in is learning what the combustible(s) were. Was it aluminium fines that collected on the horizontal surfaces on the roof structure? We do not know but the photos give some clues.

How can this incident be used to make your workplace safer? First does your workplace have a process of safely removing and storing of dross? Second, does your workplace have a policy regarding non enclosed machinery in the vicinity of molten metal?

Please comment.