SCB Park Plaza accident: Siam Commercial Bank agrees to compensate families of victims

[webfact]

SCB agrees to compensate families of all dead victims and the injured from chemical leak accident



BANGKOK: -- Siam Commercial Bank has pledged to take responsibility for compensating families of the eight dead victims and seven injured from chemical leaks at the basement of SC Park building Sunday night.

Initial police investigation findings have faulted the contractor tasked with upgrading the fire extinguishing system at the high security room for storing important documents of the banks for being accountable for causing the accident.

The accident took place as workers of the contractor accidentally triggered the old fire extinguishing system to let off FM-200 fire suppression chemical which sucks oxygen in the air.

Police suspected that the workers died because there was no oxygen in the basement where they were trapped.

Pol Lt-Gen Sanit Mahathavorn, acting commissioner of metropolitan police, said the contractor would be summoned for interrogation and might face charge of negligence causing deaths to other people.

Meanwhile, a chemist at the Engineering Institute of Thailand, Mr Veerachai Putthawong, clarified in his Facebook page that that the fire extinguisher which exploded did not contain hydrogen but pyrogen which suppresses oxygen in the air.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/155019

-- Thai PBS 2016-03-15

[Yoram]

No one in his right minds will store active hydrogen in all it's forms, in large quantities, in a place populated with thousand

of people, which begs the questions, how many more places in Thailand do they have similar set ups? and where

were the relevant authorities, the fire and the safety departments that suppose to oversees such installations

in the first place......

[ratcatcher]

No one in his right minds will store active hydrogen in all it's forms, in large quantities, in a place populated with thousand

of people, which begs the questions, how many more places in Thailand do they have similar set ups? and where

were the relevant authorities, the fire and the safety departments that suppose to oversees such installations

in the first place......

No one in his right minds will store active hydrogen.......................

Was it hydrogen or....................................?. http://www.pyrogen.com/

[thesetat2013]

Those families should take the money given by the bank and then take the contractor to court and sue him as well. The police should also be making a warrant for the contractors arrest for his negligence resulting in the deaths of so many. Ohh wait. This is Thailand we are talking about. Mai pan rai

[simon43]

The accident took place as workers of the contractor accidentally triggered the old fire extinguishing system to let off FM-200 fire suppression chemical which sucks oxygen in the air.

These types of oxygen-removal, fire-suppressing systems are very effective but deadly if you are unable to get out of the area quickly.

Years ago, when I worked as a space/satellite engineer, we had this type of system installed in the clean room areas where we integrated the satellite equipment. But because of the high risk to human life should the system be activated, the room/area had highlighted 'punch-through' panels, which could be kicked out rapidly to allow the staff to exit before being suffocated.

[apetley]

No one in his right minds will store active hydrogen in all it's forms, in large quantities, in a place populated with thousand

of people, which begs the questions, how many more places in Thailand do they have similar set ups? and where

were the relevant authorities, the fire and the safety departments that suppose to oversees such installations

in the first place......

Nobody stored hydrogen. Read the article properly.

[chainarong]

Not a good look , having this type of fire suppression installed was possibly why they were replacing it , however the results of the accident when activating the old system was why they were replacing the system , now they know why. These types of extinguishers system should only be installed in areas where no one is present it is akin to the gas chambers of the third Reich era............................................................................................. ..

[bark]

Good that the bank is stepping up to pay. Normally the amount would be about 100,000 baht. Not a lot of money.

[Bobotie]

No one in his right minds will store active hydrogen in all it's forms, in large quantities, in a place populated with thousand

of people, which begs the questions, how many more places in Thailand do they have similar set ups? and where

were the relevant authorities, the fire and the safety departments that suppose to oversees such installations

in the first place......

Oh dear lord....it wasnt hydrogen it was pyrogen...read the piece properly

[Bobotie]

The accident took place as workers of the contractor accidentally triggered the old fire extinguishing system to let off FM-200 fire suppression chemical which sucks oxygen in the air.

These types of oxygen-removal, fire-suppressing systems are very effective but deadly if you are unable to get out of the area quickly.

Years ago, when I worked as a space/satellite engineer, we had this type of system installed in the clean room areas where we integrated the satellite equipment. But because of the high risk to human life should the system be activated, the room/area had highlighted 'punch-through' panels, which could be kicked out rapidly to allow the staff to exit before being suffocated.

FM-200 doesnt remove or replace oxygen in normal concentrations used in fire supression

[Bangkok Barry]

Nothing will happen to the contractor as the company is obviously owned by someone of influence. Which is why they have not released the name of the company involved.

[simon43]

FM-200 doesnt remove or replace oxygen in normal concentrations used in fire supression

This was about 25 years ago, so perhaps it wasn't FM-200. But these types of systems were common in military/satellite clean room facilities and we were warned that should the system activate, we should take a deep breath and rapidly kick out the panels to make an escape, and NOT to try to rescue any colleagues who were trapped/incapacitated.

In any case, if FM-200 doesn't remove the oxygen quickly, how does it suppress the fire?

[Bobotie]

FM-200 doesnt remove or replace oxygen in normal concentrations used in fire supression

This was about 25 years ago, so perhaps it wasn't FM-200. But these types of systems were common in military/satellite clean room facilities and we were warned that should the system activate, we should take a deep breath and rapidly kick out the panels to make an escape, and NOT to try to rescue any colleagues who were trapped/incapacitated.

In any case, if FM-200 doesn't remove the oxygen quickly, how does it suppress the fire?

You maybe thinking of halon systems...FM-200 removes the heat from the fire at a chemical level, remember your "fire triangle" ?

[attrayant]

One hundred thousand baht per negligent death. Life sure is cheap in Thailand.

These types of oxygen-removal, fire-suppressing systems are very effective but deadly if you are unable to get out of the area quickly.

And to make matters worse, asphixiant gasses don't induce respiratory panic attacks (which would be the cue for a worker to get the heck out of the area), so there need to be plenty of alarms and emergency exists, too.

Most likely the work was being done without any sort of safety oversight or contingency planning.

[Bobotie]

One hundred thousand baht per negligent death. Life sure is cheap in Thailand.

These types of oxygen-removal, fire-suppressing systems are very effective but deadly if you are unable to get out of the area quickly.

And to make matters worse, asphixiant gasses don't induce respiratory panic attacks (which would be the cue for a worker to get the heck out of the area), so there need to be plenty of alarms and emergency exists, too.

Most likely the work was being done without any sort of safety oversight or contingency planning.

Where does article talk about 100k being the compensation ? And as stated the fire suppressant in this case was an asphixiant gas...

Yours post is an interesting study of how rumours and urban myths get started...two other people in this thread mentioned these "facts" your stating, now your quoting them as gospel, but the fact is, these two facts you have quote are not facts, relevant to this accident

[attrayant]

100K from the Bangkok Post article, which we are forbidden to link to. Simply plug "bangkok post scb fire" into a search engine and you'll be as up-to-date as the rest of us are.

[attrayant]

And as stated the fire suppressant in this case was an asphixiant gas...

It actually was NOT an asphxiant. It was heptafluoropropane which, like water, is an energy sink and deprives the reaction of energy needed to sustain combustion.

I was simply making a general comment about the kinds of gasses that are sometimes used in fire suppression, and why they can be deadly even though they might not technically be toxic or poisonous.

[deckape]

No regulations + no training + no common sense.

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Pyrogen,shmyrogen,i good on SCB to pay.As long as they dont use any of my money to do it!

[simon43]

You maybe thinking of halon systems

Ah yes, it was halon. My bad

[SaorAlba]

Its stated as being in the documents room, a strong-storage room of contracts and other valuable items, so a simple emergency exit is not possible - its a vault that is flood proof and fireproof from outside. Water based fire system inside the room would not work as it would damage the documents.

[WitawatWatawit]

The name of the contractor is Mega Planet Co. Perhaps SCB chairman Anand Panyarachun (a man known for his integrity) should explain the terms of the SCB contract with Mega Planet, specifically why this company, a major maintenance firm, was permitted to sub-contract the work on the document vault and what specific oversight was written into the terms to ensure that the work was of the required standard. There may be nothing in it, of course, but Mega Planet services a lot of major buildings, and the people who use those buildings might need some reassurance, especially if Mega Planet is in the habit of sub-contracting its work to numerous companies and thus (perhaps) risk the loosening of the supervision of standards. Here is a list of those buildings:

SCB PARK

MALEENON TOWER
ESSO
EAST WATER
TAYAN TOWER
Q HOUSE SATHORN

CHINNAWAT 3

I TOWER

OPC (THAI AIRWAYS)

KING POWER

EMPIRE TOWER

BAIYOKE TOWER 2

PTT (VIPAVADEE)

CARGO (THAI AWAYS)

HANGAR (THAI AIRWAYS)

IT SQUARE

ASIA CENTER

TOURISM AUTHORITY

OF THAILAND (TAT)

SPE TOWER

AMADEUS

ST.REGIS

BANKGKOK BANK (BBL)

SIAM CITY BANK (SCIB)

MY CONDO

TIRATIRAA CONDO

LAMAZONG CONDO

THAIRAT

185 RAJADAMRI CONDO

SENA DEVELOPMENT CO.,LTD.

[norbra]

In my past I managed a computer server environment, any contractor requiring to enter with power tools were not admitted until smoke detectors were isolated to prevent release of halon gas in the event of excessive dust/smoke detection.Also detector activation did not lock security doors.

[attrayant]

This is another good reason to move to electronic document storage, too. Everything gets scanned, tagged, indexed and backed-up. Documents and data are instantly available for viewing at all locations. No need to rent huge warehouses for paper archival and all the support staff that entails. No need to transport piles of papers hither and yon to storage facilities, and no need to spend labor hours digging through archive stacks looking for a document that will probably never be found anyway.

Some of us like to joke about Thailand being 3rd world and all, but it has access to the same modern business technology and best practices that other countries do. For some reason beyond my comprehension, it simply chooses not to take advantage of them.

[SaorAlba]

This is another good reason to move to electronic document storage, too. Everything gets scanned, tagged, indexed and backed-up. Documents and data are instantly available for viewing at all locations. No need to rent huge warehouses for paper archival and all the support staff that entails. No need to transport piles of papers hither and yon to storage facilities, and no need to spend labor hours digging through archive stacks looking for a document that will probably never be found anyway.

Some of us like to joke about Thailand being 3rd world and all, but it has access to the same modern business technology and best practices that other countries do. For some reason beyond my comprehension, it simply chooses not to take advantage of them.

Not possible under current Thai law - original signature is required in disputes

[elgordo38]

No one in his right minds will store active hydrogen in all it's forms, in large quantities, in a place populated with thousand

of people, which begs the questions, how many more places in Thailand do they have similar set ups? and where

were the relevant authorities, the fire and the safety departments that suppose to oversees such installations

in the first place......

If they did all the safety checks you recommend they would have to double and triple prices. Its what happened in the West. That pertains to all items sold here and the true safety checks involved. Why do you think it is so cheap to live here? Shortcuts. But if you take a shortcut like in this case and something goes wrong the hammer falls and falls hard.

[attrayant]

Not possible under current Thai law - original signature is required in disputes.

Then the law needs to be updated to meet the rest of us in the 21st century. Immigration has done it already by putting the 90 day report online (can't sign that obviously). Signatures are crap as far as certifying authenticity and identity. They may have been acceptable 100 years ago when we had nothing better, but today we have biometrics and digital signatures.