Anybody Else Using Dichloromethane - Take Note!

[pow2gran]

Yorkshire company fined after worker sustains chemical burns
Date:
16 July 2018
A rubber inflatable boat manufacturing and repair company has today been sentenced after an employee sustained chemical burns while cleaning down a boat using solvents at its factory in Hull.

Hull and Holderness Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 23 March 2016, a worker at Humber Fabrications (Hull) Ltd was tasked with cleaning the deck of a rigid inflatable boat using the solvent dichloromethane. The employee was using a fabric cloth soaked in dichloromethane to wipe and clean the deck of a boat being manufactured. During the work he began to feel light-headed and so took a five minute break. The worker returned to the boat, knelt down inside to carry on cleaning and subsequently collapsed. He was found sometime later by his colleagues lying in a pool of dichloromethane.

The employee was taken by ambulance to Hull Royal Infirmary, where he received treatment for chemical burns to his right underarm and back.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company failed to provide suitable control measures for the occasions when employees used dichloromethane to clean the inside of boats. The investigation found there was a failure to provide local exhaust ventilation, suitable respiratory protection or personal protective equipment. In addition, the company had failed to carry out an adequate risk assessment for the use of dichloromethane for cleaning boats and there was also a lack of instruction and training provided to employees for its use.

Humber Fabrications (Hull) Ltd of Wincolmlee, Hull was pleaded guilty to breaching Section 2 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and was fined £10,300 with £2,214.10 in costs.

Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector James Harvey said: “This case reinforces the importance of controlling the risks associated with the use of dichloromethane, which is an incredibly hazardous substance. HSE promotes substituting dichloromethane for less harmful alternative products which do the same job.”

[pagick]

Am I the only one who thought -
"I bet that stuff works great, might need to get some!"

Always Remember- SAFETY THIRD

[beamishken]

What is dichloromethane? I've never heard of it does it have another name?

[willk]

Originally Posted by beamishken

What is dichloromethane? I've never heard of it does it have another name?

Me either (but I bet Poly has!)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...11558716300231

The bloke in that report was a "4" on the Glasgow Coma Scale*
It appears to be a degreaser/paint stripper. One of it's really bad properties is that the liver converts it (in the bloodstream) to Carbon monoxide.


*I'm going to assume that a 4 is pretty grim

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by willk

The bloke in that report was a "4" on the Glasgow Coma Scale*


*I'm going to assume that a 4 is pretty grim

Never heard of the Glasgow coma scale either is that some relation to the effects of a similar no of bottles of Buckfast?
4 bottles of that would also be pretty grim[emoji6]

[GuyC]

It's only a two on the Salisbury coma scale!

[Chris Caton]

sounds like nasty stuff Nick, is it similar to the solutions available for cleaning hypalon tubes? I remember some of the solvent degreasers we used in work for cleaning copper and aluminium cables before soldering were dodgy if used in confined spaces, they were banned years ago, maybe that's why I'm a bit spaced out

[Poly]

Originally Posted by willk

Me either (but I bet Poly has!)

I have, and I've used it - but never outside of a controlled environment! The idea of sloshing it around in a shed raised some eyebrows here. I've not bought any for ages but I don't remember it being cheap - but if you want to dissolve greasy stuff its very good at it.

Originally Posted by beamishken

Never heard of the Glasgow coma scale either is that some relation to the effects of a similar no of bottles of Buckfast?
4 bottles of that would also be pretty grim[emoji6]

Its an extention of the principles of assessing responsiveness you would learn on any first aid course. Typically first aid talks about Alert - Respond to voice - Respond to pain - Unresponsive.

It ranges from 3-15, with 15 being most of us here, and 3 being totally unresponsive (so dead people have a score of 3, but 3 does not mean you are dead). 4 may mean he was making noises or moved slightly in response to pain.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Poly

I have, and I've used it - but never outside of a controlled environment! The idea of sloshing it around in a shed raised some eyebrows here. I've not bought any for ages but I don't remember it being cheap - but if you want to dissolve greasy stuff its very good at it.



Its an extention of the principles of assessing responsiveness you would learn on any first aid course. Typically first aid talks about Alert - Respond to voice - Respond to pain - Unresponsive.

It ranges from 3-15, with 15 being most of us here, and 3 being totally unresponsive (so dead people have a score of 3, but 3 does not mean you are dead). 4 may mean he was making noises or moved slightly in response to pain.

Learn something new every day i work offshore so get regular first aid refreshers and never heard of Glasgow scale