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Near Miss

Could Have Been

Serious!

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High Pressure Gaseous

Extinguishing SystemsMany of you have high pressure

gaseous extinguishing systems

such as FM 200 or Inergen

protecting computer or otherelectronic/MCC rooms.

We are confident you have the

systems serviced semi-annually as

required by insurers and/or codeauthorities.

This inspection should include

weighing of the gas cylinders.

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Near Miss

Recently one of our clients had a near misswhile this service was being

performed.

The incident could have proved devastating to both the physical plant and

personnel in the area.

While conducting the service, the technician disconnected the cylinder

and removed the connection to the discharge piping.

The service tech then removed the cylinder from the rack.

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What Happened?

A check valve malfunctioned, and allowed the main discharge valve to

open. Could this incident have been prevented?

YES!

The manufacturers procedures call for the discharge line to be plugged or

cappedPRIOR to removing the cylinder from its restraining brackets. In

this case, this critical step was omitted.

Had the cap been installed, a loud pop would have occurred, but the

cylinder would not have been able to rocket violently throughout the

room. This was a very small deviation from the manufacturers

requirements, but one which could have been fatal to the technician or

others in the area.

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ConcreteH

oles

The force was so

deadly that large

chunks of concrete

were knocked from

the floor as it

bounced around the

room. It was all

over in a matter of

seconds, but the

incident will neverbe forgotten by

those in or near the

area.

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Cabinet Damage

In this case, the service technician

was the only person in the room.

Although the cylinder damaged

several cabinets, most wereglancing blows which did not

penetrate the cover. The one

cabinet where the cylinder ended

up was a spare which was not

energized.As it turned out the

plant was able to continue

production with little interruption.

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MCCDamageThis is what can happen when a Halon tank has a problem and rockets

through a room, damaging rather than protecting!

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MCCM

ess

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Panel& PanelCover

Damage

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Tank&

TankGuts

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Tankin Bucket

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Tray Damage

Shortly after removal, the cylinder discharged and rocketed violently

throughout the room, damaging cable trays and electrical panels.

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MoreTray Damage

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What does this point out?

J Do not be bashful; ask your service technician if they are following themanufacturers service instructions in detail with regard all safety

procedures.

J Now is a good time to sit down with your provider and ask them to goover each service they are performing, insuring they are covering all

needed inspections per appropriate NFPA standards. Make sure the

frequencies are correct for each type of service.

J As always, if you run into questions, your Matrix Risk Consultants

Account Engineer is only a phone call or email away.

Matrix wants to insure that all your systems are

properly and SAFELYmaintained.