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Thursday, December 17, 2009

...but is it funny?

OK, maybe this is a guy thing. I'll let you decide.

Last night, one of my co-workers set himself on fire when some solvent flashed in our paint booth. Right up front - he's going to be OK, though he has burns on his arms and face. He says it looks like sunburn, so it's likely a first degree burn. Painful, but no lasting damage. He may have lost part of his beard and his eyebrows.

We use solvent - formerly naptha - to degrease and clean parts. It's mixed with high pressure air in a spray nozzle. I said our solvent was formerly naptha because the company recently changed to another chemical, one with a lower flash point. You can see where this is going.

We think a static discharge ignited the stuff. In an instant, Rxxxxx was surrounded by flames. Fortunately, he was wearing some protective gear: a face shield, an apron, and elbow-length gloves. His arms were burned above the gloves but below his sleeves, and his face received some burns too. He did breathe in some hot gases, but after a visit to the hospital ER, he was sent home.

Now, given that we're a cold-hearted bunch, it's well-established that whenever someone gets hurt, we make fun of them. Like I said, it's a guy thing. My contribution, besides some wise cracks about making barbecue, was the following.

"When you get back to work, could you give us a little more warning before setting yourself on fire again? We'd like to make smores."

5 comments:

  1. I was going to make a comment, but then realized it might encourage you lot. Just make sure the refried beans didn't contribute to the flare up...

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  2. i work with MEK, and other nasties. just be glad you don't work with those. cause if those chem. went up it wouldn't be joke, and it'd be worse than a sunburn!!

    Peace,
    Joboo

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  3. Oh... it's funny.

    Any time someone loses their eyebrows temporarily and isn't blinded or permanently maimed... funny.

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  4. I won't mention the time my wife lit herself on fire and I had to suppress a laugh, because I don't think she had a sense of humor about it.

    But yeah, it's funny.

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