Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Flash Fire in Confined Space

In this incident, a team of 6 workers was doing roller painting in a confined space when a flash fire occurred. All the workers managed to climb out of the confined space. 4 of the workers sustained burns while 2 others were unhurt. One of the injured workers died later due to complications arising from inhalational injury and extensive burns.

Summary of Findings:
Investigations revealed that the flash fire was caused by the accumulation of flammable vapours and the use of poorly maintained non-flame proof lighting in the confined space. The preparation of the paint mixture in the confined space had accelerated the accumulation of flammable vapours, which could not be effectively diluted by the forced ventilation provided. There were no established procedures for eliminating the risk of vapour accumulation, and for the continuous monitoring of flammable vapour levels. Properly maintained flame proof lighting was also not provided.

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