Two die in oil tank explosion



BANGKOK: -- Two workers died and two others, including a Cambodian, were seriously injured in an explosion caused by welding of an oil tank on Thursday in Chonburi province.

Phan Thong district police inspector Pol Lt Col Porncharoen Sukcharoen said the workers were welding the 20,000-litre oil tank aboard the oil truck of Methika Petroleum Co Ltd inside its parking area in Phan Thong district.

The Thai worker identified only as Somporn was welding the leaked ring from inside the tank when it suddenly exploded.

He died inside the damaged tank along with another who was working outside the tank.

Two others who included a Cambodian worker working on the tank outside were seriously injured.

Police said the explosion might be caused by welding spark inside the tank which was not totally cleaned of oil fumes. When the welding started, it blew up instantly, police said.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/two-die-oil-tank-explosion/


-- Thai PBS 2014-07-04

Stupid is as stupid does.

The safety rule was off again.

Police said the explosion might be caused by welding spark inside the tank which was not totally cleaned of oil fumes. When the welding started, it blew up instantly, police said.

Excellent detective work only missing the famous last words ...suicide is thought to be the cause

Sounds like their passing will have been fast and painless RIP

<deleted> - when will there be some HSE order in this country ?

I cannot believe that any welder who is qualified to even a basic level would not understand some fairly obvious hazards ?

http://www.darwinawards.com/

Unions.

A nation with about 50 million people with learning disabilities (I left out those under 10 years old).

Welding inside a fuel tank......obviously, no purging, no gas detector...confined space??.....kindergarten like stupidity......

Police said the explosion might be caused by welding spark inside the tank which was not totally cleaned of oil fumes. When the welding started, it blew up instantly, police said.

Excellent detective work only missing the famous last words ...suicide is thought to be the cause

Sounds like their passing will have been fast and painless RIP

In this case, I think your "RIP" stands for Rest In Pieces.

I would guess some manager who does not have a clue about welding or oil tanks was giving them instructions to weld. Follow blindly ! Just a guess ....

Welding inside a fuel tank......obviously, no purging, no gas detector...confined space??.....kindergarten like stupidity......

Not stupidity at all.

Nobody was born knowing these things.

The knowledge and safety practices have to be taught.

The US and Europe went through all this from the Dawn of the Industrial Revolution through half the 20th Century.

It was only through organized labor and lawsuits that legislation was finally created to stop these same workplace injuries and deaths that we still see in thailand today.

a man died because he was never taught properly. there might be a wife and children. but a number of arrogant Farangs have nothing to contribute except the usual arrogant bitching.

Welding inside a fuel tank......obviously, no purging, no gas detector...confined space??.....kindergarten like stupidity......

Not stupidity at all.

Nobody was born knowing these things.

The knowledge and safety practices have to be taught.

The US and Europe went through all this from the Dawn of the Industrial Revolution through half the 20th Century.

It was only through organized labor and lawsuits that legislation was finally created to stop these same workplace injuries and deaths that we still see in thailand today.

Really? That fuel can burn is taught in Thailand. Rest is common sense.

Welding inside a fuel tank......obviously, no purging, no gas detector...confined space??.....kindergarten like stupidity......

Not stupidity at all.

Nobody was born knowing these things.

The knowledge and safety practices have to be taught.

The US and Europe went through all this from the Dawn of the Industrial Revolution through half the 20th Century.

It was only through organized labor and lawsuits that legislation was finally created to stop these same workplace injuries and deaths that we still see in thailand today.

Good post and before everybody gets out their "Lets beat up the Thais books", perhaps we might consider that these 'accidents' happen everywhere not just Thailand.

As the previous poster pointed out common sense is sometimes abandoned when people are in a hurry to get a job done. However, I do agree there should be a little more workplace inspections etc.

http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/hs/pubs/alerts/i12.php

Welding inside a fuel tank......obviously, no purging, no gas detector...confined space??.....kindergarten like stupidity......

Washing it out with a water hose, putting in the hose from the compressor overnight and let someone sniff should have been enough.

Not western standard but would do.

Welding inside a fuel tank......obviously, no purging, no gas detector...confined space??.....kindergarten like stupidity......

Not stupidity at all.

Nobody was born knowing these things.

The knowledge and safety practices have to be taught.

The US and Europe went through all this from the Dawn of the Industrial Revolution through half the 20th Century.

It was only through organized labor and lawsuits that legislation was finally created to stop these same workplace injuries and deaths that we still see in thailand today.

Really? That fuel can burn is taught in Thailand. Rest is common sense.

Actually the rest is not common sense,I could pose questions on here regarding working in confined spaces and many couldn't answer correctly.

As the other poster stated this is all down to a lack of education and a lack of blame culture here where people in charge are not held responsible,that is what we now have in the West those in charge take the blame for failing to protect their work force.

The unfortunate thing is when accidents like this do occur some good normally does come because we learn from our mistakes,no body learns here because no body gives a toss about the work force and their 300 baht a day.

Having worked in the O&G industry for sometime now I feel blessed by the constant harassment of the safety officer and the time out for safety stance that allows any one to stop the job how ever large or how small,once upon a time I loathed all these things,but over time I have come to realise their importance.

The longer I've been involved with it the more I've grasped it and taken it on board for my own benefit and those around me.

a man died because he was never taught properly. there might be a wife and children. but a number of arrogant Farangs have nothing to contribute except the usual arrogant bitching.

Thats it Naam. Most of them leave their own countries because they've been rejected there as the complete retards that they are and so they come here and start with their superior better than everyone else attitude & internet drivel.

Must be hard work up in your ivory towers folks. Time to lay off the public masturbation and take a look in your own miserable backyards.

Yes, Thailand is in dire need of some H&S, for accountability start at the top and work down.

A nation with about 50 million people with learning disabilities (I left out those under 10 years old).

Proud of that post, eh, Einstein?

Welding inside a fuel tank......obviously, no purging, no gas detector...confined space??.....kindergarten like stupidity......

Not stupidity at all.

Nobody was born knowing these things.

The knowledge and safety practices have to be taught.

The US and Europe went through all this from the Dawn of the Industrial Revolution through half the 20th Century.

It was only through organized labor and lawsuits that legislation was finally created to stop these same workplace injuries and deaths that we still see in thailand today.

Yeap Rockefeller centre (NY)during construction one man died for every floor erected

ASME fired boiler construction code came about due to the numbers of boilers that where exploding and killing people

Changes of the construction and operation of offshore oil & gas platforms came about because of Piper Alpha which killed nearly 200 people in the North sea

Korean and Italian vessels capsize killing many people recently, so one would expect to see new marine law's

Texas refinery explodes killing multiple people

An Oil rig in the gulf of mexico catches fire and dumps thousands of gallons of oil in the gulf of mexico

Etc,etc

Funny thing is don't ever remember a Thai national every being reported as involved in any of the above

People the world over do stupid things

a man died because he was never taught properly. there might be a wife and children. but a number of arrogant Farangs have nothing to contribute except the usual arrogant bitching.

Naam,

I can't speak for others, but I feel " anger." Of course my thoughts go out to their families, but things like this really p*ss me off to be honest ! I accept some stupidity - such as motorbikes coming at me on the highway on the wrong side of the road, but that is independent stupidity. People who are welding Oil Tankers must be working for someone, presumably a company that has been awarded the task of repairing this vessel on the grounds that this contractor has sufficient knowledge and skill to do the job. There are 2 x issues here. 1.) The company that asked for the Oil Tanker to be repaired - knowing what has been inside it and knowing what hazard are associated with carrying a fuel. 2.) The company then that has agreed to do the job - that should know about the hazards of using welding equipment in different environments.

This simply should not happen and would not happen in many parts of the world, or if qualified people were involved. It's really sad that lives are lost in such circumstances.

a man died because he was never taught properly. there might be a wife and children. but a number of arrogant Farangs have nothing to contribute except the usual arrogant bitching.

Naam,

I can't speak for others, but I feel " anger." Of course my thoughts go out to their families, but things like this really p*ss me off to be honest ! I accept some stupidity - such as motorbikes coming at me on the highway on the wrong side of the road, but that is independent stupidity. People who are welding Oil Tankers must be working for someone, presumably a company that has been awarded the task of repairing this vessel on the grounds that this contractor has sufficient knowledge and skill to do the job. There are 2 x issues here. 1.) The company that asked for the Oil Tanker to be repaired - knowing what has been inside it and knowing what hazard are associated with carrying a fuel. 2.) The company then that has agreed to do the job - that should know about the hazards of using welding equipment in different environments.

This simply should not happen and would not happen in many parts of the world, or if qualified people were involved. It's really sad that lives are lost in such circumstances.

Welding on tanks and them going bang has happened in every country in world, please don't infer it wouldnt happen in certain countries, yes it would and has

You shouldn't let kids play with matches.

a man died because he was never taught properly. there might be a wife and children. but a number of arrogant Farangs have nothing to contribute except the usual arrogant bitching.

Naam,

I can't speak for others, but I feel " anger." Of course my thoughts go out to their families, but things like this really p*ss me off to be honest ! I accept some stupidity - such as motorbikes coming at me on the highway on the wrong side of the road, but that is independent stupidity. People who are welding Oil Tankers must be working for someone, presumably a company that has been awarded the task of repairing this vessel on the grounds that this contractor has sufficient knowledge and skill to do the job. There are 2 x issues here. 1.) The company that asked for the Oil Tanker to be repaired - knowing what has been inside it and knowing what hazard are associated with carrying a fuel. 2.) The company then that has agreed to do the job - that should know about the hazards of using welding equipment in different environments.

This simply should not happen and would not happen in many parts of the world, or if qualified people were involved. It's really sad that lives are lost in such circumstances.

Welding on tanks and them going bang has happened in every country in world, please don't infer it wouldnt happen in certain countries, yes it would and has

Of course it has happened before in many countries, but there is now a much wider understanding of these types of hazards. Accidents such as this, with relatively simple risk assessment, can and should be avoided. There will always be accidents where it's " new territory, " but this is hardly new territory - is it !

No cure for stupidity sadly....

a man died because he was never taught properly. there might be a wife and children. but a number of arrogant Farangs have nothing to contribute except the usual arrogant bitching.

Naam,

I can't speak for others, but I feel " anger." Of course my thoughts go out to their families, but things like this really p*ss me off to be honest ! I accept some stupidity - such as motorbikes coming at me on the highway on the wrong side of the road, but that is independent stupidity. People who are welding Oil Tankers must be working for someone, presumably a company that has been awarded the task of repairing this vessel on the grounds that this contractor has sufficient knowledge and skill to do the job. There are 2 x issues here. 1.) The company that asked for the Oil Tanker to be repaired - knowing what has been inside it and knowing what hazard are associated with carrying a fuel. 2.) The company then that has agreed to do the job - that should know about the hazards of using welding equipment in different environments.

This simply should not happen and would not happen in many parts of the world, or if qualified people were involved. It's really sad that lives are lost in such circumstances.

Welding on tanks and them going bang has happened in every country in world, please don't infer it wouldnt happen in certain countries, yes it would and has

Of course it has happened before in many countries, but there is now a much wider understanding of these types of hazards. Accidents such as this, with relatively simple risk assessment, can and should be avoided. There will always be accidents where it's " new territory, " but this is hardly new territory - is it !

You were the one who said it would not happen in many parts of the world....I challenged that and say it would, does and will continue to happen even with risk assessment, HAZID and all the other fancy HES processes that get thrown about

As to your "new territory" comment, mankind has been on the sea's for thousands of years, yet ferries and cruise ships capsize and people are killed, man has been producing oil and gas for over a 100 years in the western world, but rigs catch fire, refineries still explode even to this day even with all HES processes in place

a man died because he was never taught properly. there might be a wife and children. but a number of arrogant Farangs have nothing to contribute except the usual arrogant bitching.

Naam,

I can't speak for others, but I feel " anger." Of course my thoughts go out to their families, but things like this really p*ss me off to be honest ! I accept some stupidity - such as motorbikes coming at me on the highway on the wrong side of the road, but that is independent stupidity. People who are welding Oil Tankers must be working for someone, presumably a company that has been awarded the task of repairing this vessel on the grounds that this contractor has sufficient knowledge and skill to do the job. There are 2 x issues here. 1.) The company that asked for the Oil Tanker to be repaired - knowing what has been inside it and knowing what hazard are associated with carrying a fuel. 2.) The company then that has agreed to do the job - that should know about the hazards of using welding equipment in different environments.

This simply should not happen and would not happen in many parts of the world, or if qualified people were involved. It's really sad that lives are lost in such circumstances.

Welding on tanks and them going bang has happened in every country in world, please don't infer it wouldnt happen in certain countries, yes it would and has

and still does. Not uncommon to hear about an explosion from using an angle grinder to cut the top of a 44 gallon/200 litre drum let alone using an welder or oxy set.

a man died because he was never taught properly. there might be a wife and children. but a number of arrogant Farangs have nothing to contribute except the usual arrogant bitching.

Naam,

I can't speak for others, but I feel " anger." Of course my thoughts go out to their families, but things like this really p*ss me off to be honest ! I accept some stupidity - such as motorbikes coming at me on the highway on the wrong side of the road, but that is independent stupidity. People who are welding Oil Tankers must be working for someone, presumably a company that has been awarded the task of repairing this vessel on the grounds that this contractor has sufficient knowledge and skill to do the job. There are 2 x issues here. 1.) The company that asked for the Oil Tanker to be repaired - knowing what has been inside it and knowing what hazard are associated with carrying a fuel. 2.) The company then that has agreed to do the job - that should know about the hazards of using welding equipment in different environments.

This simply should not happen and would not happen in many parts of the world, or if qualified people were involved. It's really sad that lives are lost in such circumstances.

if qualified people were involved

the problem is you can't bake qualified people or order them from ebay. my anger is directed at those who blame or call the poor ignorant bugger who died stupid.

<deleted> - when will there be some HSE order in this country ?

I cannot believe that any welder who is qualified to even a basic level would not understand some fairly obvious hazards ?

Well, there you have it, falling for another assumption. Qualified? Basic level? "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!"