Four workers suffocate in Phuket sewer

[webfact]

Four workers suffocate in Phuket sewer
Eakkapop Thongtub


Rescuers work to retrieve the bodies of the dead workers.

PHUKET: -- Four Thai workmen died this morning (March 26) from suffocation after they went down into a sewer on Srisuthat Rd on the edge of Phuket Town to clean out the pipe.

Kusondharm rescuers are on the scene and it is understood one of those, too, had to be pulled out after he succumbed to the fumes.

Rescuers using breathing apparatus are now retrieving the bodies of the workers, who were working on a contract for Eastern Thai Co.

More details when we have them.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/four-workers-suffocate-in-phuket-sewer-45362.php


-- Phuket News 2014-03-26

UPDATE:

Deadly gas killed 4 workers in Phuket sewer

Full story: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/713943-four-workers-suffocate-in-phuket-sewer/#entry7611398

[LivinginKata]

RIP the 4 workers. Unfortunately this happens more often than people might think. Large tanks being accessed for inspection/cleaning is another killer. I suppose workers think they will be OK, then get into trouble. I have some experience at the sort of inspection work in my youth, took many stupid chances, got away with it.

[Costas2008]

Feel sorry for the workmen that suffered this tragic death.

"Rescuers using breathing apparatus are now retrieving the bodies of the workers, who were working on a contract for Eastern Thai Co."

The rescuers are using breathing apparatus, but nobody provided them to this poor people that died.

Health and safety, unknown in Thailand.

Eastern Thai Co. should be prosecuted.

[clockman]

Never happen, T.I.T. Life is cheap.

[SeanPhuket]

Poor <removed> boys!!!!!

[gerry123]

all for 300 bht daily

[OnTheRun]

RIP to those involved.

A very preventable tragedy, a simple O2 meter / gas detector prior to entry. If they were not issued with this the employers should be charged. It took years in the west but the threat of corporate manslaughter charges changed the minds of employers contemplating short cuts for what ever reason.

[Hippos]

Very sad.

Even though work place health and safety regulations have gone crazy in most countries making it very hard to get the job done they stop many deaths.

RIP nobody should die at work!

Edited March 26, 2014 by Hippos

[atsiii]

I'm sure the company will not be prosecuted because they will be well connected. If it's like it is around here, the "employees" were sent in as canaries in a coal mine. They may have been Thai's earning minimum wage, but more likely Cambodian or Lao or Burmese earning far less. No simple O2 meter, no protection of any sort, no cares! Very sad and preventable; welcome to LOS.

[belg]

that is what you could call: having a shitty job or a shitty day

[webfact]

UPDATE:

Deadly gas killed 4 workers in Phuket sewer
Eakkapop Thongtub


Rescue workers call for breathing apparatus to be brought fast.

PHUKET: -- It has been revealed that the four Thai workmen who died this morning (March 26) in a sewer on Srisuthat Rd on the edge of Phuket Town, had been exposed to a high concentration of deadly hydrogen sulphide gas.

Muang Police received a call at 10:30am that the four men were down inside the Phuket City sewer near Namchai Ocean Transport, and close to the Koh Sirey bridge, and were not responding to calls from their colleagues.

One of the Kusoldharm Foundation rescuers, 25-year-old Jasesada Janpen, arriving at the site, climbed down into the tube, about a metre in diameter and three metres underground to try to pull out the four men but was quickly rendered unconscious himself by the deadly hydrogen sulphide, which had filled the sewer.

The rescuers used a large fan to try to blow enough air into the pipe to allow them to pull their colleague out. After performing CPR on him, they rushed him off to the ICU at Vachira Phuket Hospital.

Three other Kusoldharm volunteers needed to be put on oxygen; even though they did not go down the hole, they were all suffering from inhalation of the gas.

Police contacted the Phuket Department of Disaster Prevention & Mitigation to request breathing equipment suitable for handling the emergency. Once they had strapped on the tanks and masks they went down and, tying ropes to the four men, pulled them out one by one.

This took more than ten minutes but the four, who had by now been in the sewer for two hours, were all dead. Police named them as Suchet Chitchonlatarn, Tawat Chitchonlatarn, Apisit Tipprasong and Sanan Buachum, who were all working for Eastern Thai Consulting 1992 Co, contracted by the city to take care of sewers.

Pimuk Sornmee, a manager of the company, told police, “Six workers were sent to the sewer today to close off this section and to clean and maintain the water pump.

“Before they started work, they opened up the cover to allow the smell and gas to escape. But when the first man went down, the gas seemed to build up again, making him unconscious. The second, third, and fourth men all went down to help those who had gone before, but succumbed to the gas.”

One of the two who did not go down into the sewer told the police a similar story, revealing that the workers had left the cover open for 30 minutes to vent the gas. Mr Tawat was first to go into the sewer, but within 10 minutes he was unconscious. It was only after three others had descended into the pipe and met the same fate that the workers called police and the rescue service.

Hydrogen sulphide is a colourless gas with a stink of rotten eggs, and is a common by-product of the breakdown of organic matter in enclosed spaces such as sewers.

In higher concentrations, it can seriously disrupt the nervous system, leading quickly to death. Those who survive may suffer brain damage.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/deadly-gas-killed-4-workers-in-phuket-sewer-45364.php


-- Phuket News 2014-03-26

[Taco]

This happened in Koh Phangan just over a year ago right next to my buddies rental house. One initially dead and then one or two more who tried to help. What a stinky way to go.

[Emster23]

Again? Similar happened month or two ago as reported on TV. "those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it". Manslaughter charges against bosses.

[lucjoker]

they work like they drive

RIP today and RIP for tomorrow.

[tetleythedog]

There are as we all know no safety regs in this country...............life is cheap! No "sniffer" i expect was used to check for tosic/ unbreathable fumes. They should have been wearing BA, depending on circumstances they may need to have 2 emergency BA kitted out if the workers were not out by 'time of whistle'. ie 45 to 40 bar falling.

[Halion]

that is what you could call: having a shitty job or a shitty day

In a country that does not give a shit

[Estrada]

Homicide. They often use prisoners to clean out the sewers. I have never seen any breathing apparatus being used of even on standby for emergency. When ever I see the Thai Safety slogan "Safety First", I look at the safety foreman wearing a floppy hat and flip flops and I think to myself "Safety First Death Second" which just about sums up Thai safety standards.

[Rockhound]

I work on oil rigs and this kind of work is classified as "confined space entry" and is very strictly controlled. As many have said here health and safety is pretty much non-existent in Thai working practices.

[maamoot]

I was a cable splicer for the phone company for many years , one of the first things they drilled thru our heads was if you saw somebody passed out in the confined space was to never ever go in there after him as it just meant you were going to join him .

They should have had a something to test the air , and then a blower that goes in there to ventilate , then test the air again .

but this is Thailand

If they locked up the CEO of this company for a couple of weeks , this sort of thing would never happen again .

[DLP]

Feel sorry for the workmen that suffered this tragic death.

"Rescuers using breathing apparatus are now retrieving the bodies of the workers, who were working on a contract for Eastern Thai Co."

The rescuers are using breathing apparatus, but nobody provided them to this poor people that died.

Health and safety, unknown in Thailand.

Eastern Thai Co. should be prosecuted.

Yes sewer them.

[firefox999uk]

Quote...Rescue workers call for breathing apparatus to be brought fast.

BA should have been worn by the workers on initial entry, plus as Tetleythedog said 2 Emergency men should

have been on stand by, kitted up in BA, plus they should have a guide line to work from and the man hole covers either side of the

entry point should have been taken off to provide an air flow into the sewer, also intrinsically safe radios should have been used

to have contact with the workers and the surface team...a lot of should haves....poor men....i know what its like to work in sewers but

at least we had full safety equipment and procedures.....When is Thailand going to wake up and wise up..(i know the answer).

[sevenhills]

All they needed would have been an Oxygen or Methane analyser or similar lowered down into the sewer and they would still have been alive now. Confined spaces need to be entered with extreme caution. RIP.

[nuananddon]

How tragic. This accident could have been avoided with proper safety precautions. I worked for General Motors for 30 years and they were a very safety conscious company. NOBODY went into any pits or sewers until it was checked for toxic gases or fumes. If you did you could expect some time off for disregarging safety procedures. Whoever is the safety officer for this company should be fired on the spot. Just plain dereliction of duty. RIP guys.

[Gil]

RIP to those involved.

A very preventable tragedy, a simple O2 meter / gas detector prior to entry. If they were not issued with this the employers should be charged. It took years in the west but the threat of corporate manslaughter charges changed the minds of employers contemplating short cuts for what ever reason.

This is sad.

You don't necessarely need to go down in a sour to suffocate here in Thailand.

The remedy for the smog will fix this insanity as fast as the one that must be applied for this case here (O2 meter detector ?): I mean NEVER!

[attrayant]

You don't necessarely need to go down in a sour to suffocate here in Thailand.

Quoted for truth. Quite often there is the stench of hydrogen sulfide gas at the entrance to my school. There's no avoiding it - you have to walk through it to get onto the property. Sometimes it's so bad that I get nauseated.

The truly sad part of the story is not that they didn't have adequate protection, but that they didn't even have basic training in their job. Had they been trained, they would have known not to go down there the moment they smelled the gas. They could have saved their own lives.

[rotary]

That would have been H2S that killed them most likely. As many have stated the use of a hand held gas detector before entering, proper ventilation before entry, and re-checking of the oxy level & H2S could have saved their life's. No proper procedures were in place with proper safety equipment with a rescue plan by trained people was also a problem. Anyway too many issues to list here. Everywhere you go people are working at heights without fall protection, using ladders or scaffolding that is not adequate, and correct personal protective equipment is not being used.

RIP Gents

[mrjonyoung]

Bottom line here- most of us foreigners never would have step foot in there. We would have gagged from the stench. Your body has "detectors" built-in. Two days ago it rained here in Nakhon Pathom and in the morning the was the foulest stink near where i buy Chinese doughnuts. Sewers filled or stagnant runoff was full- I dont know. but what I DO know is that Thai people were business as usual; buying food, standing around, smoking, chatting and I was retching with my shirt over my face. Desensitized they are.

[henksteeghsth]

I did this work for 6 years in Holland but always safety first check, check and check again

go down with al the safety you have and never go down wen your college not respond

but that's in Europe

Today the were cleaning the sewer on soi siam country club and totally no security TIT

Rip to the poor guys

[crishoj]

Am I the only one feeling somewhat odd about the fact that the poor workers were being pulled out by volunteers? I don't mean to belittle the admirable work done by the Kusoldharm foundation, but the availability of proper rescue services should in my view be guaranteed by the state, not conditional on the goodwill of volunteers.

[SantiSuk]

Three sent down in succession to try to help the previous guys.

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein