Safety Stories Around Me 03------Life Doesn’t Care About Ifs

Thread Content

This post was last edited by slll611 on 2016-12-6 at 20:54. It’s something that happened in my class; although almost 20 years have passed, I still remember it clearly. It was an evening in June 1997, and two operators on a four-shift schedule discovered during their inspection that Tank No. 1 for acidic gas condensate was full. Given that the liquid level in this tank affects the pressure in the acidic gas network, Master Zhang, who is older, went to the condensed oil pump room to start the pumps and pump out the oil, while another worker continued with his inspection duties. When the inspector returned to the pump room, he found Master Zhang lying on the floor there. He quickly called for help to carry Master Zhang to a place outside the pump room where the air was fresh, and requested assistance from the gas prevention station. Upon arrival of the gas protection vehicle, Master Zhang was immediately taken to the hospital for emergency treatment, but despite all efforts, he passed away and left us forever. Having spent many years together with Master Zhang day and night, it’s heartbreaking to suddenly be separated by death; we are all very sad. After analysis by the factory management and the workshop, it was found that during the construction of the condensate oil pump room, due to the low location of the equipment, the foundation of the pump room was below the surrounding ground level; thus, it was a semi-underground pump room with poor air circulation. In the pump room, the vent pipe of the pumps is connected to the pump’s vent valve using a rubber hose; the other end of this hose is placed in a drainage ditch located not far outside the pump room window. Whenever the pumps are vented, condensed oil containing gas and hydrogen sulfide flows outside the window, and can easily enter the pump room. Moreover, there are no devices installed in the pump room to detect or alert about toxic gases. During this venting operation carried out by Master Zhang, the amount of gas vented was large, the hydrogen sulfide concentration was too high, and the pump room was located downwind of the open ditch, which led to a hydrogen sulfide poisoning incident. If the pump room had been built outdoors where there is good ventilation, if the wind direction on that day was blowing from the pump room toward the windows, if the venting hose had been placed further away or if the discharge was done in a sealed manner, if safety alarm systems were in place at the site, if they hadn’t operated in that way, if... – with so many \"ifs\" around, perhaps this accident wouldn’t have occurred. After the accident, the workshop planned to install axial flow fans on the walls on the north and south sides of the pump room, with the switches placed outside the entrance, in order to improve ventilation in the condensate oil pump room; toxic gas detectors were also installed at the site ； The pump’s vent pipe was extended, increasing the distance from the vent pipe to the pump room window ； The enforcement of systems such as dual-operation was re-emphasized. Over the years, I often think about that incident, as well as those \"what ifs\". Unfortunately, life has no such thing as \"what if\"; accidents that have already occurred can never be undone. We must strictly adhere to the rules and consider the consequences in advance; we must not be tempted to take shortcuts or seek ease, nor should we rely on luck or try to find ways to avoid compliance with these regulations. If no accident occurs, you may feel complacent for a while, but if an accident happens, you will regret it for the rest of your life!