Event
- Event ID
- 804
- Quality
- Description
An explosion occurred when an operator opened a valve on the hydrogen network of the plant. The operator suffered from a burn in the forearm and two other employees were shocked by the pressure wave. The three victims were taken to the hospital for exams. The involved gas network was purged.
- Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Hydrogen Release and Ignition
- Nature of the consequences
- Macro-region
- Europe
- Country
- France
- Date
- Component involved
- valve (generic)
- Failure mode
- rupture & ignition
- Initiating cause
- wrong operation
- Root CAUSE analysis
The fact that the hydrogen line had to be purged after the incident, could suggest the failure of the purge before. However, the operator could also mistakenly open the wrong line. Anyhow, both options converge in identifying Job factors as ROOT CAUSE.
- Root causes
- Date entry in HIAD
- 01/01/2020
Facility
- Application
- Chemical industry
- Sub-application
- glass production
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
hydrogen supply pipeline, glass production plant
- Process temperature range [C]
- ambient temperature (-50°C to +50°C)
- Location type
- Unknown
- Location
- unknown
- Operational condition
- UNKNOWN
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 3
- Post-event summary
The three victims were taken to the hospital for exams.
- Emergency action
The involved network was purged.
In-depth data
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Release temperature [°C]
- 25
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
- Explosion type
References
- Sources categories
- ARIA
- Reference & weblink
ARIA Event no. 50145
https://www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/accident/50145_en/?lang=…
(accessed October 2020)
