This is the sort of incident where we must question the involvement of other workers to put out fires.
People do go into panic mode and put themselves into harms way in situations like this and it is common cause of secondary harm. As hard as it might be to not take a few seconds to think first before action (what I used to call the 'thinking version of fight or flight'), often those few seconds of thinking can reduce the risk to yourself and others. Fire Fighters do this for a job and are trained constantly. A worker is not. A worker in most cases has only done a basic one day fire training course that really only only covers a small fires and what fire extinguisher to use on what source of fire.
I would like to think that if I had a fire at work, and that if the fire was more than just a small fire (manageable), I would not put myself or allow others to go into harms way. On the other hand, if there was person in the fire and being hurt...knowing me, I would (like most) put myself into harms way without thinking (try my best anyway).
I am not saying those employees who reduced the fire should not have done what they did (which appears to be a good job and well done to them), but a life is more important than plant and equipment.
It will be interesting to see what sparked the fire. The workplace would (should) require (as must be a high risk fire site) spark arrestors, no smoking, no naked flames etc. I really hope a safety assessment was done for this site and key high risk issues addressed and educated. Equally I hope that any rules or procedures were not ignored. As with many of these sorts of tragic events...there will be a simple reason why this occurred.
Pike river reminds us to not ignore key high risks HERE
Pike river reminds us to not ignore key high risks HERE
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WORKERS at a Yatala oil plant risked their lives to extinguish a fire after it killed a fellow employee this morning.
A 38-year-old Oil Tech International employee was unloading oil from a truck into a pit when it exploded.
The explosion killed the man instantly and sparked into an intense fire.
One person is dead after an fire at commercial business at Yatala. Photo: Matthew Howard
Distraught workers sprang into action, doing what they could to control the emergency situation.
The tragedy unfolded at the Sandy Creek Rd plant just after 8am today.
District Duty Officer Senior Sergeant Marc Kimber said police and Workplace Health and Safety were investigating the incident.
“Workplace safety will look at aspects, the workings of the facility and its general practises,” he said.
The scene at a Yatala oil reclaiming business where a man was killed this morning. Photo: Jessica Elder
Acting chief Superintendent for Queensland Fire and Emergency, David Herman, said workers successfully prevented the fire spreading.
“A gentleman has lost his life here today, but workers did reduce this incident, it could have been worse,” he said.
“They did what they were trained to do and followed their processes".
“We will now follow an investigation process and secure the site, which we expect to take the remainder of the day.”
Devastated employees have been sent home and offered counselling.
It is believed a truck driver and fellow plant employee witnessed the incident, neither were injured.
