Explosion at a Silicon Coating Plant (530)

An explosion and fire occurred at a chemical plant applying silicone coatings. The blast occurred when some polymethyl hydrogen siloxane was accidentally fed into a reactor, together with the correct feedstock, allyl glycidyl ether. The two epoxides reacted, overheated and hydrogen burst out of a ruptured pipe into the building, where it mixed with air and exploded. The 5 workers were caught in the resulting fire. According to the Company, the police believe that human error is to blame. Although both chemicals were labelled, they were stored in drums of the same colour.