In industrial production, gas-related accidents are often sudden and highly hazardous, potentially leading to serious consequences such as explosions, poisoning, and suffocation.
Explosion Accidents: Instantaneous Destructive Risks
An explosion is a phenomenon in which a substance undergoes a violent physical or chemical change in an extremely short period of time, accompanied by the release of large amounts of energy, heat, light, and a loud noise. In industrial settings, explosion accidents are primarily divided into two categories:
High-risk gases: Combustible gases that easily mix with air, such as hydrogen, methane, and acetylene.
Triggering Conditions: After a combustible gas leaks, it forms a mixture with air within its “explosive limits.” It can explode when exposed to open flames (such as lighters or sparks) or high temperatures (such as overheated equipment).
High-risk scenarios: Industries such as grain processing (flour dust), wood processing (wood dust), and metal grinding (aluminum and magnesium powders). Risk Compounding: When combustible dust suspended in the air reaches an “explosive concentration,” the presence of flammable gases (such as paint vapors in a workshop) will further lower the explosion threshold and intensify the explosion’s power.
Poisoning Accidents: The Health Threat of Invisible Gases
Toxic gases enter the human body through the respiratory tract, skin, and other pathways, causing acute or chronic damage. This is common in confined spaces and confined work environments (such as underground pipelines, reactors, and storage tanks).
01 Acute Poisoning: Short-term High-Concentration Injury
Major Gases: Carbon monoxide (a product of incomplete combustion of gas), hydrogen sulfide (a byproduct of wastewater treatment and chemical reactions), and chlorine (a disinfectant and chemical raw material).
Mechanism of Pathogenesis: Inhalation of high concentrations of toxic gases for a short period of time can rapidly damage human organ function. For example, carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin, blocking oxygen transport and causing brain hypoxia; hydrogen sulfide can directly inhibit the respiratory center.
02 Chronic Poisoning: Long-term accumulation of low concentrations
Main gases: Mercury vapor (in instrument manufacturing, chemical catalysis), benzene vapor (evaporation from paint and glue), formaldehyde (in coatings and adhesives).
Pathogenic Characteristics: Toxic substances gradually accumulate in the body. Initial symptoms are mild, but long-term exposure can damage the nervous system (e.g., finger tremors and memory loss caused by mercury poisoning), the respiratory system, or the hematopoietic system.
Suffocation: The fatal danger of hypoxic environments
Suffocation accidents are caused by low oxygen levels in the environment and often occur in poorly ventilated, enclosed spaces. They are not directly caused by gas toxicity, but rather by physiological failure caused by hypoxia.
01 Suffocation from Inert Gas Leakage
Main gases: Nitrogen (chemical protective gas, cold storage refrigeration), carbon dioxide (food processing, fire extinguishing systems).
Risk Logic: Inert gases are non-toxic in themselves, but large-scale leaks can deplete oxygen in the air. For example, if nitrogen leaks into a closed maintenance room, the oxygen concentration can quickly drop below 10%, causing people to faint within minutes of entering.
02 Asphyxiation from Volatile Organic Solvents
Main Substances: Volatile organic solvents such as gasoline and ethanol.
Risk Logic: High-concentration organic solvent vapors have a high density and tend to settle at the bottom of confined spaces, displacing oxygen. For example, after a gasoline leak in an underground parking lot, vapor can cover the ground, and people entering can suffocate due to the combined effects of inhaling vapor and lack of oxygen.
Gas accidents often stem from “management oversight, equipment hazards, and improper operation.” Enterprises, regulatory authorities, and operators must work together to mitigate risks at the source.
01 Enterprise Management: Strengthening Institutional Defenses
Improve Safety Procedures: Develop a “Gas Use Safety Manual” to clarify the procedures for gas storage, transportation, and operation, and assign safety responsibilities to each position (e.g., warehouse managers are responsible for inspecting gas cylinders, while operators are responsible for testing equipment for airtightness).
Strengthening On-site Supervision: Safety departments will conduct daily inspections of gas use areas, focusing on “illegal operations (such as rough handling of cylinders) and aging equipment (such as rusted pipes).” Violators will be held accountable to prevent “habitual violations.”
02 Monitoring Upgrade: Using Technology to Prevent Risks
Regular Equipment Maintenance: Conduct a full monthly inspection of gas pipelines, valves, and storage tanks, and regularly replace aging gaskets and hoses.
Deploy Fixed Monitoring Devices: Install combustible and toxic gas detectors in areas prone to gas leakage (such as around reactors and warehouse exits). These detectors must be linked to fans (for automatic exhaust in the event of a leak) and solenoid valves (for automatic gas shutoff) to ensure early detection and early response.
Build a Smart Monitoring Platform: Leveraging Chicheng Electric’s Smart Industrial Monitoring Platform, a campus-wide gas monitoring network is constructed. This network displays gas concentrations in each area in real time on a large data screen, supports remote alarms (SMS and platform push notifications), and supports historical data traceability, achieving a seamless integration of “human and technical defense.”
Standardize the Use of Portable Gas Detectors: Before entering a confined space, workers must use a portable gas detector to check oxygen concentration and toxic gas levels.
03 Personnel Improvement: Strengthening Safety Awareness
Systematic Training: New employees must complete onboarding training on “gas characteristics, hazards, and emergency response” and pass the assessment before they can begin work. Veteran employees receive regular refresher training, focusing on strengthening practical skills such as “detector operation and wearing protective equipment.”
Strengthening Protection: Workers are equipped with standard protective equipment (such as gas masks, air respirators, and anti-static clothing) and trained in proper fitting techniques—for example, ensuring that gas masks fit snugly to prevent air leaks.
Regular Drills: Simulate scenarios such as “gas leak alarms, personnel evacuation, and first aid for casualties” to ensure employees are proficient in the “close valve → open ventilation → evacuate the site → report the emergency” process.
Gas safety is no small matter; every negligence can lead to irreversible consequences. Only by ensuring that enterprises fulfill their primary responsibilities, strengthening monitoring systems with technology, and enhancing personnel’s safety capabilities can we build a comprehensive “enterprise-technology-personnel” safety network and truly prevent problems before they occur. Chicheng Electric will also continue to deepen its industrial safety technology to provide solid protection for corporate production safety and personnel life safety.
