Incident Investigation: Fuel Tanker Explodes, Fatally Injuring Worker | WorkSafeBC
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Published 2021-04-27
This video slide show recreates an incident at a workplace in British Columbia where a fuel transfer worker was fatally injured when gasoline vapours were ignited by a spark from static electricity. It shows the importance of having effective bonding and grounding systems in place and the hazards of static electricity onboard fuel tankers, and provides information on industry best practices for fuel tanker loading procedures.
Using animation and photos from an incident site, the video depicts the events that led to the incident, and describes the underlying factors and unsafe practices, and how the lack of an effective health and safety program contributed to the incident. It also emphasizes the importance of adopting effective control measures such as engineering controls to reduce the risk.
Visit our website for more information and resources on workplace safety for fuel transfer and bonding and grounding: www.worksafebc.com/
View other incident investigation slide shows: • Incident Investigation: Worker Loses ...
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro to the incident: gasoline vapours ignited during fuel transfer
0:45 How static electricity is generated in fuel tanker hoses
1:14 Bonding and grounding to eliminate static electricity in a fuel delivery system
1:52 Incident recreation
2:58 Top-loading vs. bottom-loading methods and the safety advantages of bottom-loading
3:48 Safe work practices for top-loading and splash-loading
4:18 No way to check grounding and bonding
4:55 Process for fuel transfer
5:14 The components needed to start the fire
5:38 The three likely sources of the static electricity spark
6:27 The explosion and lack of fire control safety system
7:13 The factors contributing to the fire
7:44 Failure of the health and safety program to detect and control the hazard
9:18 Engineering controls required for effective grounding and bonding
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All Comments (21)
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Find information and resources on workplace safety for fuel transfer and bonding and grounding here: www.worksafebc.com/
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In electrical engineering, I have designed stations for 95% alcohol tanker unloading. Called a grounding indicator, it has a clamp you attach to the fuel tanker which then sends a signal to the control station, which only after it has been properly grounded, will allow the flow of alcohol to start. This guarantees that no static electricity can be discharged while unloading.
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I wonder how many times he did this exact same thing before he was killed by one spark.
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I work in a completely different industry but these lessons are very applicable to my industry and many others. I hope people watch these, learn, and apply these lessons.
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Wow, I've driven trucks for 35 years and never realized something like this was a possibility, this was a very informative video here.
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While in the Air Force (mid-60s) I cross trained from Survival Equipment to POL. While watching this slide show, I cannot tell you the memories this evoked. Bottom line, I worked on the flight line and in the fuel yard. I am beyond lucky to still be here some 50 odd years later. There were so many mistakes made...
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It's astonishing how many Errors you have to string together before you get an Incident.
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I am a retired construction safety engineer. In my experience, employers are more concerned with money than safety. They say "Safety First" but that's a lie. When I would bring up safety violations to management the answer was usually "we've always done it this way, and we see no need to change."
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The biggest problem seems to be most people don't understand that static can be created just by splash loading - simply filling a vessel the way we have hundreds of times before. It's just difficult to think that a liquid could produce electricity.
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USCSB hasn't posted a video in months so this will do I suppose.
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Tanker drivers should have a means of routinely testing continuity between the tank, nozzles and ground. It should be standard procedure to check it before pumping. It would only take a couple of seconds. And that splash-loading of gasoline is asking for trouble. Gasoline vapours in particular are highly explosive (the liquid itself doesn't burn). Some fun safety tips when you're at the gas station: touch the nozzle to a metal area of your vehicle before putting it in the filler hole so that any spark that occurs is far from gasoline vapours. Ensure that the metal nozzle is contacting the filling tube, which it does by design. And don't shuffle around in your shoes or get in the car while filling. That produces large static charges which may not dissipate quickly. Mobile phones do not cause explosions. That was a myth resulting from people who get in and out of the car while filling, often with a phone in hand.
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Watching a minute of this video and I already understand the importance of grounding when moving fuel on these trucks. Just the movement of fuel can cause the charge. I had no idea. I hope all employees watch this and learn how important grounding can be. It's something I would never be lazy about if I work there.
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Now you'll understand why you must fill your jerry-can on the ground, and not the bed of your truck.
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I watched a safety video at fuel terminal. I will never forget this statement from it. Gasoline has a designed mission. And that's to find an ignition source. It's very good at it. After all that's what it's designed to do.
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That poor, poor driver.
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As a truck driver considering getting into hazmat you definitely changed my mind
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I worked with fuels for 6 years. You NEVER top fill a tank. Especially a low flashpoint fuel like gasoline.
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Former USAF POL here. One of the first things we learned in tech school was the hazard of static electricity.
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Your site is one of the best sources of solid information on the web.
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As a CSO I watch all sub-trades perform their tasks. I may not know how they do their job however I do know what good work practices look like. It is this sort of intuitiveness that alerts you to someone working unsafely and trying to cut corners. It's either stupid workers or stupid SWP's. This video presented some new technical information regarding safe fuel transfer that I was unaware of and that actually surprises me. I hope the 'end' of the Pandemic will bring forth a newly revived WSBC. I am certain that work will increase exponentially for the summer of 2021. Thx!
