I was asked to participate in a serious flash fire accident cause and origin investigation earlier this year. The worker received severe injuries from the flash fire; they survived with life-altering injuries to their lower extremities. The flash fire involved Acetone vapors from a manufacturing cell, an office chair, and a plastic chair mat. Can […]
On July 15, 2022, the 79.9-foot-long yacht Pegasus caught fire while moored at the Peninsula Yacht Basin in Gig Harbor, Washington. No persons were on board, and the fire burned for about an hour before it was reported. By the time firefighters arrived, the fire had engulfed the aft section of the yacht, and the
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been alerted to reports and rumors that suggest it is dangerous to use a wireless phone while filling your vehicle with gas or in the presence of flammable materials. The rumors and reports may be fueled by warnings posted at gas stations or included in wireless phone owners’ manuals
A fatal explosion at a chemical facility in 2018 killed a welder who was carrying out maintenance work on a mixing vessel. The HSE investigation found that toluene vapors had leaked into the vessel from faulty valves, producing a flammable atmosphere. Workers had checked the atmosphere with a flammable gas monitor before their work began.
On February 2, 2011, Employees #1 and #2 worked for a petroleum and petroleum product company. Employee #1 was on top of a transport tanker into which the firm’s vice-president transferred #1 diesel fuel, mixing it with about 1,000 gallons of #2 diesel fuel. Employee #2 was on the ground. After “splash filling” the center
In this video, we can see BOTH operators fail to vent the gasoline vapors BACK into the truck. Instead, they vent them to the atmosphere at ground level. Gasoline vapors are 2X the weight of air, so they travel along the ground until they find an adequate ignition source (<1 mJ) and accumulate to their
Inside storage rooms (Liquid Storage Rooms) are normally used: when the containers are opened for mixing, pouring, dispensing, or transfer of flammable liquids; if the quantity is too large to fit into an approved cabinet; if the quantity is excessive for any one fire area; and/or if the opened containers cannot be separated from potential
Filling or handling plastic or other non-conducting containers can still be hazardous when the flammable liquid is conductive. The splashing (filling) and turbulence of the liquid in the container can cause a static electric charge to build up in the liquid or on conductive parts of the container that are not adequately grounded. A spark
The Portable Fuel Container Safety Act of 2020 (PFCSA) provides that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (Commission) must promulgate a rule to require flame mitigation devices in portable fuel containers that impede the propagation of flame into the container unless the Commission determines that there is a voluntary standard for flame mitigation devices that impedes
At 11:45 a.m. on May 16, 2022, an employee was preparing to pump fuel into a pump station at an oil and gas site. He was holding the fuel pump and walking towards the fuel tank, when he tripped and inadvertently squeezed the pump’s handle, releasing diesel fuel. When the diesel contacted the pump manifold,
At 10:30 a.m. on June 15, 2022, an employee was MIG welding nipples onto the top of a fuel tank truck. The purpose of the nipples was to facilitate a steam cleaning process for the tank, and the work was being performed in an indoor bay of a building. The employee was welding when the
