WARNING Furnace Explosion

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Furnace explosions continue to be a major contributing cause of boiler incidents in our province. Although the incidents in Alberta are relatively minor in nature, it should be remembered that annually, furnace explosions cause major disasters and fatalities.

A recently obtained report on a furnace explosion on December 9, 2002 which caused two death gives lessons learnt from the incident as:

  1. All personnel who are operating boilers must follow Safe Operating Procedures.
  2. Authorization must be obtained before introducing changes to the boiler system or procedures.
  3. Ensure all personnel who are operating boilers receive adequate training and supervision.
  4. Ensure proper documentation.
The report further concludes: “Don’t Neglect Your Boilers’ Operation Just Because They Operate Automatically“ We have previously reported on furnace explosions (see Volume 2, Issue 4, August 1997 and Volume 4, Issue 1, March 1999 of the Pressure News). Again, we want to remind our readers that all precautions must be taken to avoid the hazard of furnace explosions.

First published September 2002
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