"employee suffered 2nd degree 50% burns...."

The proper storage of aluminium fines and dust is commonly overlooked. In many cases workplaces are uneducated and lack awareness of the hazard. Worst yet is that these workplaces fail to understand how to respond to a fire. Here is a recent incident highlighting the importance of knowledge of proper storage of aluminium fine waste.

One evening in November 2024, a serious fire was reported in the (name omitted) district of (name omitted), the scene was a car body design company, suspected of being a fire in the outdoor dust collection bucket on the 1st floor, and the people nearby were frightened, and the fire brigade was urgently notified to extinguish the fire, and a 63-year-old male employee (name omitted) suffered 50% burns from 2 degrees at the scene, and was urgently sent to the hospital for first aid.

The case occurred in the second section of (name omitted), the 1st floor of the car body design company outdoors, the iron drum was cut and the waste aluminum powder spontaneously combusted, after the fire department was reported, the fire department quickly dispatched the fourth fire brigade, the detachment, the plough detachment, and a total of five units, dispatched 12 fire trucks and ambulances, and 23 firefighters.

The fire bureau said that the fire was a one-story building, suspected of outdoor dust collection barrels caught fire and burned, deployed waterline rescue, the fire was controlled at 5:42 p.m., and 1 employee at the scene suffered 2 degrees of 50% burns and scalds a local Hospital, and the machine burned, with a burning area of 0.5 square meters and no property damage, and the cause of the fire was investigated by fire investigators.

We pray that the injured worker recovers fully from their burns. All indications are the worker saw the fire, which may not have had flames but was glowing red.

We assume that the worker placed water into the container and/or used a fire extinguisher. Either way the dust was propelled up into a cloud. Upon igniting a flash fire occurred. If the worker’s clothing fabric was not fire resistant it ignited.

Aluminium dust, fines, and shaving fires can only be successfully and safely extinguished with Class D fire extinguishers. We assume that this workplace either did not have any or failed to properly train their workers. Regardless, a worker was severely burned.

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