Does your business allow workers to carry their personal lighters in their pockets? In my word of Flammable Liquids and Gases (FLAGs) and HAZ MATs we never allowed people to have lighters on them while on our property – some companies do not even allow them in parking lots. In most of my plants, our smoking areas had electrical lighters (like the push-in/pop-out style in cars); pipe smokers always complained! ? In many plants even made truck drivers and delivery personnel surrender their’s at the gate and pick them up as they exit. But I am wondering how this is viewed outside the petro-chem industries and PSM/RMP sectors.
Do most facilities PROHIBIT employees and contractors from having a lighter in their pocket while they work? Especially operators and maintenance personnel who work in areas with flammables? I came across this incident in the OSHA Database and thought… this guy has my kind of luck (i.e. bad luck). But it made me think about those businesses that still allow smoking and may allow their employees to perform hotwork with a lighter in their pocket… stranger things have happened!
On March 28, 2014, Employee #1, working at a construction company’s job site, was engaged in exterior carpentry. He was using a cutting torch. A spark from the torch fell into the worker’s front pocket. The worker had a butane lighter in his pocket. The spark caused the lighter to explode, and the worker sustained severe burns. Emergency services were called. Either at the job site or subsequently, at the hospital, the worker died from his burns.
I wonder how many have it in their hotwork program/practice/policy that welders are not allowed to have a lighter on them while welding/cutting? I have a client who had the debate with their maintenance team about the full-size metal lighters (like the Zippo Brand) vs. the plastic disposable lighters. They decided that the metal lighters were acceptable, but prohibited the plastic disposable ones (the type involved with this fatality). Now, most facilities are smoke-free, but not all, and I wonder if they manage their lighters during hotwork?
NOTE: This fatality was investigated by Indiana OSHA. The investigation determined that there was no employer/employee relationship between the fatally injured worker and the construction company so no citations were issued for this workplace fatality.
CLICK HERE for the OSHA case file