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REPORT CHARACTERISTICS:
DONOR: B.C. Coroner's Service
JURISDICTION: British Columbia
REPORT TITLE: Verdict of Coroner's Inquest
INDIVIDUAL PRESIDING: L. W. Campbell, Coroner
PLACE OF INQUIRY: Tumbler Ridge
DATE OF INQUIRY : 1986-12-09
INFORMATION ABOUT DECEASED:
OCCUPATION: Unavailable
INDUSTRIAL SECTOR: Mining
NAME: Confidential
ACCIDENT INFORMATION:
DATE OF ACCIDENT : 1986-02-05
PLACE OF ACCIDENT: Quintette Mine
BRIEF CAUSE OF DEATH: Closed whiplash injury to spinal cord,
blow to the
head.
BRIEF MANNER OF DEATH: Blunt injury to the head.
ACCIDENT DESCRIPTION:
On February 5, 1986 at approximately 1310 hours the deceased
was struck
on the shoulder and then on the lower left side of the head
by a 4" weld
type pipe cap which separated under pressure from the accumulator
of a
steam cleaning unit. This complete unit is housed in the van
of a three
ton truck.
Some of the circulation pipes of the unit were frozen; the deceased
and
a fellow worker were trying to get them thawed so they could
clean some
heavy equipment near McConkey Pit at Quintette Mine.
Usually these lines would have anti-freeze pumped into them
before a
shutdown or storage period to guard against freezing. On the
fourth of
February, the day before the accident, it was decided to try
an
alternate method of storage, i.e., instead of anti-freeze, the
operators
blew the lines clear with air pressure.
This exercise proved unsuccessful because on the morning of
February 5,
1986 the lines were frozen. This condition was not immediately
recognized and the diesel motor operating the pump was started.
When no
fluid came out of the cleaning nozzles, the deceased got a small
propane
torch and thawed the line from the water tank to the pump and
accumulator.
He then went outside to see if the nozzles would spray. They
would not,
so he went back inside the van to open a bypass valve on the
pressure
line which would reroute some of the pressurized fluid back
into the
suction line from the tank and thus reduce some of the pressure
in the
system. This would give him time to apply heat to some of the
other
lines in an attempt to get the unit operable.
The diesel and pump were running during this elapsed time and
under
normal conditions that would be OK because the pressure would
be
controlled by the relief valve on the boiler. However, in the
present
situation, with lines frozen between the accumlator and boiler,
the
pressure in the accumulator rose very rapidly to dangerous levels.
As the deceased approached the unit, the pressure in the accumulator
reached a point high enough to blow the cap off. On hearing
the
explosion, his fellow worker entered the van and found Daniel
on the
floor in an unconscious state, so he called other workers nearby
to get
help and call an ambulance.
RECOMMENDATIONS ISSUING FROM INQUIRY:
To: Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety Branch, Ministry of Labour
1. All vessels and fittings in pressure system installations
fall under the
Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety Act regardless of size, and
that the
following minimum recommendations be included in the regulations.
a) There be an unloader valve and pressure gauge installed after
the pump
before any valves in the system.
b) There be a safety relief valve before any valves in the system.
c) That any alteration to the system requires the system to
be re-certified.
d) That the owner must provide training to the operator to an
acceptable
standard as set out by the Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety
Branch.
e) That the system be changed with glycol anti-freeze during
shutdown in
freezing weather conditions.
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