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THE Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the USA is investigating an explosion at a metal processing plant in Manchester, Georgia, which claimed the life of one worker and hurt six others.
The blast at G & S Metal Consulting happened at 8.45am on 29 November. It is thought that some 20 workers were inside the facility at the time.
Reports indicate that the explosion caused the roof of the plant to collapse and broke natural gas pipes, triggering a fire. Emergency services extinguished the fire within 15 minutes and a half-mile area around the facility was evacuated as a precaution.
Three people were air-lifted to Grady Memorial Hospital some 60 miles away in Atlanta, where they were treated for severe third-degree burns.
One of these casualties – 26 year-old Kenny Lamonte Walton – died a few days later from his injuries. Four other workers suffered less serious injuries and were taken to local hospitals.
Following the incident, the company’s chief executive, Scott Galley, was reported as saying that water was accidentally introduced into boiling aluminium in a furnace. He said that a ‘hopper’ container was left outside the night before the incident and became wet from rainwater. The hopper was then used to transport aluminium scrap to a furnace, and the water in it reacted with the aluminium to cause the explosion.
The OSHA investigation – expected to take at least two months – will seek to determine the cause of the blast and whether any safety violations were committed, in which case the company could face penalties.
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