Tank explosion kills one - Cozumel

[bakodiver391]

Back to the doubled burst disc issue, burst discs are not required in Europe, and we don't hear of people dying in droves over there because of exploding tanks. The feeling among most tech divers is that you are much more likely to be killed by a burst disc letting go and losing all your gas way inside an overhead environment than you are likely to be killed by an exploding tank. I double all my burst discs in my double tanks and I'm happy with that decision.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

A fill shop in the US or its' possessions would need to comply with the general duty clause in 29 CFR 1903.1, but that typically doesn't affect an employer until after something bad has already occurred.

I guess where I was headed was when something bad has happened - OSHA will be engaged. And when that happens lots of inspections and reviews will occur. So the likely hood of exploding tanks killing off employees is not really that likely in the US...

 

[Abdullah]

I guess where I was headed was when something bad has happened - OSHA will be engaged. And when that happens lots of inspections and reviews will occur. So the likely hood of exploding tanks killing off employees is not really that likely in the US...

People never consider the general duty clause until a lawyer comes to see them, at which point they find out they are liable for any hazard they could have reasonably known was present. Most businesses comply with the clear standards, but the nebulous ones like the general duty clause are left to insurance companies to enforce. A US fill shop would be more likely influenced by his insurer or his agency than by OSHA or DOT.

The risk in the US is about the same as anywhere else because the errors that increase the risk correlate to the industry, not necessarily to the country Overfilling is a popular pastime in some US shops, as it is elsewhere. And how often does the dude in the compressor room verify the hydro is in date? Do they really know that a cylinder is oxygen clean before they do a partial pressure nitrox fill? If they fill a lot of tanks a day, do they control the fill rate, or fill them as fast as they can to get them out the door? The business pressures in the US are the same, and the risks created by bad decisions are the same.