Stay Out of Trouble, Stay Compliant
We take the compliant storage of dangerous chemicals very seriously, but we take the health of our customers and their employees even more seriously. Recently, a sad story about an explosion at a worksite in Alabama has come into the news, which caused the death of one employee. We would like to wish everyone involved our deepest condolences.
Storing dangerous chemicals is no joke. This accident is another reminder that dangerous chemicals are not to be taken lightly and require serious effort to contain them safely. If you need help or more information on how to safely store dangerous chemicals, make a call and find out more before it is too late.
1 Fatality and Nearly $30,000 in Fines
“OSHA investigators determined that flammable welding gases stored in an unventilated storage container exploded when the employee opened the container door.” – OSHA News Release, Nov. 7, 2018
The accident happened in Shelby County, Alabama, and has racked up nearly $30,000 in fines for the Texas-based contracting company. The explosion was caused by flammable gases used for welding being stored without proper ventilation. The employee went to open the door of the container, which caused the explosion that killed the employee.
The company was charged with keeping welding gas cylinders with liquefied petroleum tanks without proper ventilation. As well as failing to store acetone and oxygen cylinders separately. Finally failing to train employees properly on safe keeping of dangerous chemicals.
The old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” applies here heavily. The company could have taken steps to not only save money but save the life of their employee.
Proper Chemical Storage And Accident Prevention
With these violations, the company in question was forced to pay more money than it would have taken to maintain compliance with the OSHA requirements for Chemical Storage. Worse than that, this willful non-compliance led to one fatality.
Here at US Hazmat, we can help you avoid costly accidents like this one. We help by maintaining safe and compliant chemical storage from the start to the completion of your project. With long term chemical storage buildings, and short-term rental options for fire-rated flammable storage, non-flammable hazardous storage, or even explosive magazine storage, our premium hazmat storage solutions can be tailored to your business’ needs. Learn more about what we do at USHazmatRentals.com
To read more about the incident in Shelby County, go Birmingham Business Journal and OSHA.
If you have questions about your industrial chemical storage solutions, give our team a call at (866) 284-0776 today!
