Gas leak kills two, injures two others

TRANG: -- A gas leak at a biomass power plant in the southern province of Trang killed a New Zealand engineer and a Thai staff member early Monday morning.

The engineer, identified as Michael Kogsin, 36 along with Chavalit Somnok, 37, a system control officer from Buri Ram province, reportedly died after inhaling the toxic gas at about 1.15am while inspecting a machine inside the plant

Two of the three others staff members who rushed to rescue the two were seriously intoxicated by the gas.

-- The Nation 2013-06-10

Obviously proper permit to work management systems are not in place or ignored nor were gas testings being performed by an authorised gas tester.

You have to be extremely careful when working in these kinds of environments in Thailand, often the most basic safety procedures are either not in place or ignored.

RIP to the two victims.

This does not appear to be the full story. I live in the province and this was on local news at 10.30 pm. Locals were saying there was a problem with a gas leak and Michael took the lead and evacuated everyone. He and one Thai engineer remained to try and fix the problem and were both overcome. Absolutely tragic. Condolences to his family and that of the other brave chap khun Chavalit. RIP

R.I.P fellow Kiwi and your Thai workmate - I extend my sympathies and good wishes to the family and friends of both.

Obviously proper permit to work management systems are not in place

not too obvious... procedures and systems cannot prevent all incidents.

Very lucky that the number of fatalities was not higher because the hardest thing for people to understand is that rescue attempts without BA are often suicidal.

Obviously proper permit to work management systems are not in place or ignored nor were gas testings being performed by an authorised gas tester.

You have to be extremely careful when working in these kinds of environments in Thailand, often the most basic safety procedures are either not in place or ignored.

RIP to the two victims.

be careful here or anywhere else. Systems can be circumvented, or ignored. At the end of the day you are responsible for your own safety

R.I.P fellow Kiwi and your Thai workmate - I extend my sympathies and good wishes to the family and friends of both.

R.I.P fellow Kiwi and your Thai workmate - I extend my sympathies and good wishes to the family and friends of both.

Yes, it would appear from the TV topic title that only the New Zealander died ... or was worth noting.

Hopefully this thread will not sink to the level of the other thread about the Thai security men who died at Central Festival Pattaya Beach parking with the frenzy of negative comments about the deceased.

Gas Leak Kills New Zealand Engineer At Trang Power Plant

This does not appear to be the full story. I live in the province and this was on local news at 10.30 pm. Locals were saying there was a problem with a gas leak and Michael took the lead and evacuated everyone. He and one Thai engineer remained to try and fix the problem and were both overcome. Absolutely tragic. Condolences to his family and that of the other brave chap khun Chavalit. RIP

Just to clarify as I can no longer edit, and some people may read this that knew Michael and it may be important. The story was out locally on news last night and it was on Facebook at 10.05 pm last night the 9th June with photos in Trang hospital and states the time of the incident at 16.30 hrs on 9th June. The op states the incident was about 1.15 am this morning, that is not correct. If anyone needs info then pm me and I can try and find out more, my sister in law is a senior nurse at the hospital.

R.I.P fellow Kiwi and your Thai workmate - I extend my sympathies and good wishes to the family and friends of both.

R.I.P fellow Kiwi and your Thai workmate - I extend my sympathies and good wishes to the family and friends of both.

Yes, it would appear from the TV topic title that only the New Zealander died ... or was worth noting.

Hopefully this thread will not sink to the level of the other thread about the Thai security men who died at Central Festival Pattaya Beach parking with the frenzy of negative comments about the deceased.

Gas Leak Kills New Zealand Engineer At Trang Power Plant

suradit69, in my opinion you are out of order. this is a site for expats and is read almost exclusively by expats. The OP clearly states that two men died and names them and their nationality. The title is aimed at expats and perhaps any kiwi's living in the area. Would you kindly delete your post and that will allow me to delete this.

Obviously proper permit to work management systems are not in place or ignored nor were gas testings being performed by an authorised gas tester.

You have to be extremely careful when working in these kinds of environments in Thailand, often the most basic safety procedures are either not in place or ignored.

RIP to the two victims.

Obviously to know all this you must have been there and have taken part in the accident investigation then ?...Surely you havent jump to all these conculsions based on the information presented in the OP ?

The only assumption I am going to make is that seeing as biomass is mentioned, one assumes the gas spoken about is possibly H2s (Hydrogen Sulphide AKA sewer gas)

You have to be careful working in these enviroments in Thailand or any other place for that matter, Thailand is not the only place where basic safety procedures are not in place or ignored...

Obviously proper permit to work management systems are not in place

not too obvious... procedures and systems cannot prevent all incidents.

Only about 99.99% if they (and the documented conditions) are stringently applied and adhered to

Obviously proper permit to work management systems are not in place or ignored nor were gas testings being performed by an authorised gas tester.

You have to be extremely careful when working in these kinds of environments in Thailand, often the most basic safety procedures are either not in place or ignored.

RIP to the two victims.

Obviously to know all this you must have been there and have taken part in the accident investigation then ?...Surely you havent jump to all these conculsions based on the information presented in the OP ?

You have to be careful working in these enviroments in Thailand or any other place for that matter, Thailand is not the only place where basic safety procedures are not in place or ignored...

"Two of the three others staff members who rushed to rescue the two were seriously intoxicated by the gas."

That statement alone is sufficient for me to agree that "the most basic safety procedures are either not in place or ignored. "

A gas leak at a biomass power plant in the southern province of Trang

More info. The incident was at a wood factory. Two men were up on a gantry 15 M up feeding wood into a device to finely chop it, I believe which is then fed into a burner. The two men appeared to collapse but did not fall from the platform. Michael and one other guy went to rescue the two, telling others to evacuate. AT the top and on the platform, Michael and the other man were also overcome. At that point an engineer from India and another Thai went to rescue all four. They succeeded in getting them down. The first two men that collapsed survived but sadly Michael and Mr Chavalit did not. I will get my wife to translate more as it is a statement in Thai from a statement of the owner of the factory 'Paravineer'.

How very sad! RIP to both men that passed away.

Sometimes good people react immediately when someone is in dire need of help. Unfortunately it does not always result in a great outcome.

I wont go into the health and safety issues (Far too many to list, not that many Thai industries take much notice anyway).

Very sad that 2 people lost their lives and only hope a procedure is put in place to prevent this from reoccurring.

RIP

Too sad !! OHSA would require a Respirator in USA. Guess Thailand does not have an OHSA.

Obviously proper permit to work management systems are not in place or ignored nor were gas testings being performed by an authorised gas tester.

You have to be extremely careful when working in these kinds of environments in Thailand, often the most basic safety procedures are either not in place or ignored.

RIP to the two victims.

Same thing happened here last week in a sewer. You are correct, but PTW will be like personal safety equipment. Put in a drawer and forgotten about.

Too sad !! OHSA would require a Respirator in USA. Guess Thailand does not have an OHSA.

What kind of gas? Respirators only work at certain low levels of certain gases.

Tragic...and preventable, obviously no gas detection system (why spend the $30,000), no permit to work system, lack of training but hey TIT. Maybe there are other places around the world with the same mentality but that is no excuse.

What about a safe electrical system, standards but we are just as guilty, we live here because we don't want to pay for it too, it's a double edged sword but hey, when it becomes tragic and there is a loss of life it's too late.

Safety conscious.......

Obviously proper permit to work management systems are not in place or ignored nor were gas testings being performed by an authorised gas tester.

This is a serious allegation. You have evidence of this?

Perhaps if you provide a reference to an internationally accepted standard procedure, I can pass this on to the inspectorate team at the Energy Regulatory Commission and request that they investigate whether this particular licensee was in compliance?

Obviously proper permit to work management systems are not in place

No, but something is better than nothing.

Its not that the gas is toxic, its that there is no oxygen and persons become asphyxiated by the gases, knocked unconscious, and silently suffocate to death before anyone else knows what has happened.

Obviously proper permit to work management systems are not in place or ignored nor were gas testings being performed by an authorised gas tester.

This is a serious allegation. You have evidence of this?

Perhaps if you provide a reference to an internationally accepted standard procedure, I can pass this on to the inspectorate team at the Energy Regulatory Commission and request that they investigate whether this particular licensee was in compliance?

Wait and see the details.

These types of large installations are normally safety conscious. Maybe an unexpected crisis and disaster was averted by their actions.

These guys would have known to wear equipment. There will have been an explanation for this.

There is a good chance that family, friends, neighbors and co-workers of the deceased will likely read this thread, so please keep your comments civil and on-topic.

My condolences to the family and friends of the victims and I hope the injured make a speedy recovery.

I wont go into the health and safety issues (Far too many to list, not that many Thai industries take much notice anyway).

Please list some Would this be based on your many years of working in Thai industry or is something your heard ?

Too sad !! OHSA would require a Respirator in USA. Guess Thailand does not have an OHSA.

Well you guessed wrong..

Absolute tragedy for everyone who is impacted by this...I as well as many on here are upset and saddened for the families involved..Total uninformed drivel by some on here shows no respect only total ignorance....

Almost interesting to see how quickly folks jump to conclusions before any real facts are in. A bias against Thais and assumption they go out of there way to be slipshod. Thinking of safety factor just last month in USA there was that factory explosion in Texas that killed all those people. And there is OSHA there.

The facts are that two people were killed. Until we know more facts, shall we just offer our sympathy and wait before rushing to judgement?

Not happy with some of the comments, condolences to those affected.