Prayers for our boiler tech ...

Ken Field

if there is a way for you to get us his info.

Robert O'Brien

There was a bad accident last week that is worth mentioning, both for prayers and as a warning:

Our building fire/particulate alarm went off last week. When I ran to the basement to check the system, I found steam everywhere, and the tech from the company that maintains the boiler, covered in burning hot water from the waste down. (Normally, these guys do high pressure stuff, so its lucky it was just a steam heat boiler (which they are improperly running at 6-7lbs making the water potentially that much hotter ... but I digress)). From the looks of things, both the male and female threads on a drain nipple were rusted, and the nipple basically blew off. It's possible it was leaking and he was wiggling it, or who knows what.

Two things: Say a prayer for the guy, who has second degree and some third degree burns from the waist down. This is everyone's worse nightmare. This is also a good reminder not to work on unknown fittings that are holding back pressure (water or steam), without testing them from the side first. No one expects a fitting to come off in their hands, but they can, and they do. Thanks again for help you guys always give. Stay safe!

Mark Eatherton

99% of accidents are preventable...

Work safely out there.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to your tech.

ME

ttekushan_3

terrible.

I can't imagine being burned over that large a part of the body. I say this because exactly the same thing happened to me several years ago on a 40HP heating boiler running at only 2 psig. The valve and nipple came right out of the 4" tee when I closed the ball valve. The burns were over the top of my hand and part of my forearm. They were 2nd degree burns and excruciatingly painful. In cases of that much burned area, the risk of life-threatening infection increases markedly.

My thoughts go out to him.

In my case, I was deceived by the fact that the valve and nipple were brand new. Turns out, the old nipple broke off nearly flush with the tee, and maintenance installed the new nipple about 1-1/4 turns in with the broken piece still in there.

Be careful out there.

-Terry

bill_105

pray for a good lawyer

Awful story. I hope you live in a state with generous workers comp rules. My family is loaded with lawyers and believe you me having a decent one at this time is critical. Workers Comp. is there just for this reason. It's not the sueing mad person gone nuts, it was an accident. Wishing him or her all the best.