Gas Cylinders Pellet Fall in from Truck in a Plastics Production Plant
In a plastics production plant, a pallet containing 7 cylinders of nitrogen and 1 cylinder of hydrogen fell from a truck traveling in a logistics zone. The driver stopped the vehicle, cut off the engine and noticed a leak on the hydrogen cylinder; he warned his superintendent who alerted the firefighters, established a safety perimeter and interrupted any work with hot sources.The firefighters stopped the leak by closing the cylinder valve and put the basket back on the truck which was then unloaded at the place originally planned.
Event Date
December 16, 2013
Record Quality Indicator
Region / Country
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Causes
Cause Comments
The immediate cause was the fall of the load from the truckThe root cause was the decision to sue inappropriate system to address increased frequency of the transport operations.
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Components Involved
Trolley, gas cylinders pallet
Storage/Process Medium
Location Type
Location description
Industrial Area
Pre-event Summary
The plant operator conclusions:-the gas delivery rate was unusual and the gas cylinder pallets suitable for trolley transport were not available;-the truck used as a replacement was not designed for the purpose and the load was not well secured;-the acceleration of the driver at start-up would have resulted in the fall of the basket.
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
The operator prohibited the transport of baskets of gas cylinders other than by the dedicated trolleys and investigated a better way to secure the load (installation of side panels, anti-slip devices).This is a typical case of lack of safety culture, revealed by the wrong decision under delivery time pressure.
Event Nature
Emergency Action
The driver stopped the vehicle, cut off the engine and noticed a leak on the hydrogen cylinder; he warned his superintendent who alerted the firefighters, established a safety perimeter and interrupted the work by hot spot.The leak stopped by closing the cylinder valve and replaced the basket on the truck which was then unloaded at the place originally planned.
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Source Category
References
References
ARIA data base
event no. 45096