"One person has 95% burns, the other has 25%, he is in a coma.."

 

Molten metal hazard in our industry is well known. But, still some workplaces discount this hazard. We pray that these workplaces who fail to acknowledge this hazard use this recent incident to make their workplaces safer.

During the incident at the aluminum plant in (a town in Europe), two workers received severe burns, one of them died. This was reported on social networks. One person has 95% burns, he did not survive, he was not taken to (a city 250 kilometers away), the other has 25%, he is in a coma," wrote a subscriber of a socia media platform. Information about the incident was clarified days later.

Another news media state:

The incident at the (city name omitted) aluminum plant is being checked by the investigator. A representative of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of (country name omitted), told (local news media) that the workers received burns in the hot metal melting shop.

According to preliminary information, two people "received bodily injuries in the form of burns to the face and body, of varying severity."

We offer our sincere condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. We pray that they will remember their loved one, and/or their friend for how they lived and not how they died. We also pray for the injured worker and pray for their recovery.

Regarding molten metal burns many times one news article will state information about the injured workers and subsequent articles will update the conditions of the workers. There were numerous news articles about the workers. One article stated that the injured worker died, then several articles complaining about the news article that the worker died. When he did. It was sad and confusing to see all the news articles in sequential order. We felt so bad for the family and friends of the injured workers. But as we have sadly posted before the rule of thumb for severe burns is multiply the percent of burns by two. If the answer is over 100, the patient normally succumbs to their injuries.

A government official stated that the workers “worked with hot metal”. We assume from that information the workers were burned with molten aluminium. Knowing this company and visited many of their workplaces. We observed casthouse workers wearing a minimum of secondary clothing. Which would provide minimal protection if a splash or explosion of molten metal resulted in the worker(s) being covered in molten metal. 

We will update this story when we find out more information.

Please comment.