Beware of safety accidents at sewage treatment plants

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Sewage treatment plants are an important part of the environmental protection facilities in construction projects. The key to ensuring that wastewater from such projects is discharged in compliance with standards lies in the proper operation of the sewage treatment plants; however, safety accidents in these plants occur from time to time. At around 10 a.m. on April 4, 2015, the wastewater treatment plant of Fujian Fuwei Co., Ltd.’s Thermal Power Plant was shut down for maintenance. While two workers at the plant were opening and adjusting the valves for discharging wastewater from the tanks, they were poisoned by hydrogen sulfide accumulated at the bottom of those tanks. Three people who went to rescue them were also poisoned, resulting in a total of 5 people being poisoned. They died despite efforts to save them at the hospital. On August 30, 2014, a similar accident occurred at the wastewater treatment plant of Xiamen Chenhong Technology’s facility in Switzerland, resulting in 3 deaths and 1 injury. In light of such incidents, and to prevent safety accidents at wastewater treatment plants, I would like to share some information with you. 1. Most sewage treatment plants are sources of foul odors; although different processes are used, all components of these processes can generate toxic gases. The common toxic gases are mainly hydrogen sulfide and ammonia ； Common pollution-generating units include equalization tanks, neutralization tanks, sedimentation tanks, sludge thickening tanks, and so on. The operation of sewage treatment plants requires tasks such as sludge removal and maintenance; staff should first carry out ventilation and exhaust operations, and it is advisable to wear gas masks when performing sludge removal and maintenance work. 2. Operators of sewage treatment plants should pay attention to emergency training and keep emergency supplies on hand, in order to prevent further casualties resulting from attempts to rescue those who have been poisoned. 3. In the event of a poisoning incident, and while ensuring the safety of those who are carrying out rescue efforts, the poisoned person should be quickly removed from the scene and taken to an area with fresh air. The buttons on their clothing should be undone to keep their airways unobstructed. For those with stopped breathing, artificial respiration should be performed immediately. Oxygen inhalation should also be provided if conditions permit. Those with eye injuries should rinse them repeatedly with clean water or saline as soon as possible. Furthermore, rescuers must pay attention to their own safety; when performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, they should avoid inhaling the patient’s exhaled air or any toxic gases released from the patient’s clothing, to prevent secondary poisoning. In addition to poisoning incidents, drowning accidents also occur frequently at sewage treatment plants. These plants should conduct regular self-inspections, and protective fences should be installed around outdoor units such as aeration tanks and aerobic tanks to prevent people from falling in ； Strengthen training and education, standardize tasks such as chemical addition and sampling, to prevent personnel from falling. Accidents at sewage treatment plants occur from time to time; those working on the front lines of environmental protection are urged to take this as a warning and pay attention to safety.