Workplace injuries

[bloocrab]

About 30 years ago, working at a chemical plant, grave-yard shift...
Our task for the night was to finish emptying out a 2,000 gallon tank and prep it for a new batch.Most of it was valve and automatic pump work, but there was always some left behind at the bottom of the tank which we'd then have to fully suit up (Hazmat Suit/Respirator-SCBA device/etc), climb down the ladder inside the tank and clean out manually. The polymer/chemical was very toxic and released a very heavy vapor/gas, it was much heavier than air...so even with the top access hatch open, you really couldn't smell the vapors that lie just below the cover.

Earlier that#^&day, someone had gotten fired and left pretty disgruntled...on the way out, one of the things believed to have happened, was that a crumbled up Dunkin Donuts bag was dropped into the tank.

Later on that night when the gauges showed that the tank was empty, one of the techs inspected the tank via a round sight-window located close to the bottom. All that remained, were a couple of inches of chemical which we'd then add a#^&solution to, in order to help break it down as the viscosity was very high, ...and of course, this strange object resting on top? The technician couldn't make out what it was but knew it shouldn't be in there. He grabbed a spot-light and peeked in from the top...still couldn't figure it out. Instead of suiting up, he thought he could reach it with a rigged pole. As this tank was very tall...the pole was a bit short of the object....so he reached in a little further....so much so that his head and shoulders were now in the tank. Without a respirator on, it didn't take long for him to lose consciousness and fall the rest of the way in. Poor guy landed on his back unconscious in 2 inches of chemicals. Took some time for people to get suited up and get him out...and I'm not sure if it was fortunate or unfortunate...but he survived. He had all kinds of things wrong with him...along with broken bones, skin-grafts, brain damage from inhaling so much vapor, the list goes on and on. Needless to say, he never returned. Probably the worst work-injury I can remember...guy was awesome too, not sure he's still with us anymore.#^&