NIOSH Warns Workers About Explosive Respirator Cylinders

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  This update warned workers about the possibility of respirator gas cylinder explosions during refilling with compressed air. The case in point involved a 47 year old firefighter who was killed when the neck portion of the cylinder separated and struck him in the upper chest and neck. Several other incidents were on record reporting the explosion of DOT-E 7235 4500 PSI cylinders. In October of 1985, NIOSH and the US Department of Transportation began requiring that these cylinders be retrofitted with a steel reinforcing ring. The cylinder involved in this specific fatal accident had not been retrofitted and was in service beyond its maximum 15 year service life. It was estimated that as many as 8,000 of these cylinders may remain in service without the required retrofit. NIOSH urges that all compressed gas cylinders be examined, and that any of this type be removed from service if they have not been retrofitted or if they have exceeded the 15 year period of service. The last hydrostatic retest date stamped on the neck should be identified and the cylinder removed from service if the date is more than 3 years old. All compressed gas cylinders should be treated with caution.
• Subjects:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Accidents, Occupational/prevention & Control Breathing Apparatus Compressed-air-breathing-apparatus Equipment Safety Explosive-hazards Fire Extinction/Accidents Fire Extinction/Equipment And Supplies/Reliability Fire Fighters/Health And Hygiene Firemen Fires Respirators Respiratory-protective-equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety-practices

  More +
• Source:
  NIOSH update
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Pamphlet (or booklet)
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Pages in Document:
  2 unnumbered pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00215693
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:aaeaed0aa53165bb39a07252ac26daac41d3c0df645ef5914bb45dc63b1e21b5082b3f2ea43226188e3252e68b0c9e3cf8d323caf601ee6e12b5d14682f4dc9f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/21290/cdc_21290_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.12 MB ]