Post on 07-Apr-2018
transcript
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Near Miss
Could Have Been
Serious!
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High Pressure Gaseous
Extinguishing SystemsMany of you have high pressure
gaseous extinguishing systems
such as FM 200 or Inergen
protecting computer or otherelectronic/MCC rooms.
We are confident you have the
systems serviced semi-annually as
required by insurers and/or codeauthorities.
This inspection should include
weighing of the gas cylinders.
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Near Miss
Recently one of our clients had a near misswhile this service was being
performed.
The incident could have proved devastating to both the physical plant and
personnel in the area.
While conducting the service, the technician disconnected the cylinder
and removed the connection to the discharge piping.
The service tech then removed the cylinder from the rack.
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What Happened?
A check valve malfunctioned, and allowed the main discharge valve to
open. Could this incident have been prevented?
YES!
The manufacturers procedures call for the discharge line to be plugged or
cappedPRIOR to removing the cylinder from its restraining brackets. In
this case, this critical step was omitted.
Had the cap been installed, a loud pop would have occurred, but the
cylinder would not have been able to rocket violently throughout the
room. This was a very small deviation from the manufacturers
requirements, but one which could have been fatal to the technician or
others in the area.
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ConcreteH
oles
The force was so
deadly that large
chunks of concrete
were knocked from
the floor as it
bounced around the
room. It was all
over in a matter of
seconds, but the
incident will neverbe forgotten by
those in or near the
area.
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Cabinet Damage
In this case, the service technician
was the only person in the room.
Although the cylinder damaged
several cabinets, most wereglancing blows which did not
penetrate the cover. The one
cabinet where the cylinder ended
up was a spare which was not
energized.As it turned out the
plant was able to continue
production with little interruption.
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MCCDamageThis is what can happen when a Halon tank has a problem and rockets
through a room, damaging rather than protecting!
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MCCM
ess
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Panel& PanelCover
Damage
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Tank&
TankGuts
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Tankin Bucket
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Tray Damage
Shortly after removal, the cylinder discharged and rocketed violently
throughout the room, damaging cable trays and electrical panels.
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MoreTray Damage
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What does this point out?
J Do not be bashful; ask your service technician if they are following themanufacturers service instructions in detail with regard all safety
procedures.
J Now is a good time to sit down with your provider and ask them to goover each service they are performing, insuring they are covering all
needed inspections per appropriate NFPA standards. Make sure the
frequencies are correct for each type of service.
J As always, if you run into questions, your Matrix Risk Consultants
Account Engineer is only a phone call or email away.
Matrix wants to insure that all your systems are
properly and SAFELYmaintained.