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- Title
Inadequate contractor selection results in confined space fatalities.
- Abstract
On 02 October 2007, a chemical fire inside a permit- required confined space at a hydroelectric plant in a remote mountain location in Colorado, killed five and injured three workers. Painting contractors were in the initial stages of recoating a 466m steel portion of a 1,311 m enclosed penstock tunnel with an epoxy coating product when a flash fire occurred. (A penstock is an enclosed conduit such as a tunnel or pipe that delivers a flow of water to a turbine that generates electric power). Flammable solvent being used to clean the epoxy application equipment in the open penstock atmosphere ignited. The initial fire quickly grew as it ignited additional buckets of solvent and substantial amounts of combustible epoxy material, trapping and preventing five of the eleven workers from exiting the single point of egress within the penstock. The trapped workers communicated using handheld radios with co-workers and emergency responders for approximately 45 minutes before succumbing to smoke inhalation. The investigation found that a number of safety issues contributed to the accident, in particular a lack of planning for hazardous work and inadequate contractor selection and oversight.
- Subjects
COLORADO; CHEMICAL fires &; fire prevention; CONTRACTORS; HYDROELECTRIC power plant accidents -- Investigation; INDUSTRIAL safety; SAFETY
- Publication
Loss Prevention Bulletin, 2012, Issue 223, p10
- ISSN
0260-9576
- Publication type
Article