This is another case of a PLASTIC tote being used for a NON-CONDUCTIVE Flammable Liquid and a serious incident occured due to the failure to control the ignition source… STATIC ELECTRICITY! SAFTENG Members be sure to check out the posts earlier this year of a very similar incident that was caught on camera (Transferring flammable liquids without a deadman valve can be deadly indeed!). That incident involved a plastic tote (e.g. Intermediate Bulk Container or IBC) and static ignited the vapors.
A HAZ Waste facility was fined $230,000 for an offense under section 12(1) of the Workplace Safety and Health Act, for failing to take reasonably practicable measures to ensure the safety and health of its employees at its hazardous waste treatment facility. On 23 February 2017 at 6.10am, a worker was discharging recovered liquid Hexane from a product tank into a PLASTIC Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC) through a flexible metallic hose, when a flash fire broke out.