U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is calling attention to hot work safety with its variety of online resources. Hot work is the name for burning, welding or similar operations that can ignite fires of explosions. On the site are videos, bulletins and incident investigations detailing the hazards associated with this line of work.
Hot work incidents occur in many industries including food processing, manufacturing and fuel storage. They first came to CSB’s attention in 2001 after an explosion at a refinery in Delaware. In 2008, after an explosion caused by welding above an 80 ft-tall storage tank containing hydrogen gas at a Wisconsin factory that killed three and injured another, CSB started to systematically track incidents like these.
“The CSB has examined multiple deadly hot work accidents. Our call to industry is to follow effective hazard analysis and combustible gas monitoring procedures when welding and cutting in and around storage tanks. These simple steps will save many lives.” says CSB Chair Rafael Moure-Eraso.