scope:

Abstract:

A worker disconnected a hose from the vent pipe attached to a sandblast pot, the stored pressure energy in the pot caused the pipe to spin, and the worker was struck several times by the spinning vent pipe. The injured worker and several others involved in the sandblasting operation were employed under a subcontract to perform corrosion control, including sandblasting and painting. The oversight of equipment configuration and operations delegated to subcontractors can lead to unsafe operations. All pressure system maintenance should be performed by approved procedures that ensure configuration control and prime contractors should explicitly identify in their subcontracts the maintenance that subcontractors are authorized to perform without obtaining prime-contractor approval.