Breathing Air Tragedy in Texas


		AcuSafe -> April 2000 Newsletter
		Breathing Air Tragedy in Texas

Your editor was in Texas when he heard the local news of the tragic loss of two painters due to Oxygen deprivation. This is a portion of the flash issued by OSHA Region 6:

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Aeriform in Houston, TX, are requesting any and all air cylinders marked "compressed air - breathing" that were purchased within the last two months be tested for oxygen content prior to being used. These cylinders should be checked for an oxygen level of 191/2 to 231/2 percent by volume.

On March 21, 2000 a double fatality at Equistar in Channelview, TX, occurred. Two painters were wearing sandblast hoods connected to compressed air cylinders. Preliminary tests show a low level of oxygen in the cylinders.

Aeriform shipped the class D breathing air cylinders to companies in the Houston, Port Arthur, Beaumont and Corpus Christi areas. Records cannot confirm the names of the companies and what cylinders they received.

The air cylinders may not contain a sufficient amount of oxygen and could be hazardous.

Other Incidents Recalled
AcuSafe's editor is aware that there have been a few instances where bottled air used either as IDLH atmosphere breathing air or "convenience air" could have led to problems. The first was at a chemical company in Louisiana where routine checks as a part of a good safety monitoring program revealed that some bottled air was less than 20 percent. This was not outside of "acceptable limits," but was not what one would expect for most air in the United States.

Upon further investigation, it was found that much of the industrial breathing air is "blended" using cryogenic oxygen and nitrogen, not just compressed like the fire departments do. So human factors come into play - always a red alert.

Another instance the editor is aware of was in Canada where a breathing air bottle was used in a different service and the "heel" was left in the tank, throwing the breathing air off spec.

Quality Control Programs are Important
AcuSafe would go a bit further than the OSHA alert and suggest that all sites using bottled breathing air check the quality controls and develop monitoring activities to ensure that quality. It certainly would be tragic for this to happen again when the solutions are so simple.