SCALDED TO DEATH.
YOUNG FREEZING WORKER.
STRUCK BY STEAM JET
(By Telegraph. — Press Association.)
DUNEDIN, this day
A shocking accident at the Finegand freezing works last evening is reported from Balclutha. James Davis Taylor, aged 20, opened a digestor by mistake while the steam was turned on. The full pressure of steam struck him. He was removed in great agony to hospital, where he died this morning.
He leaves a widow and two children. -Auckland Star, 27/2/1931.
FREEZING WORKER’S DEATH.
The adjourned inquiry touching the death of James Davidson Taylor, who died on February 27 as the result of scalds received on the previous day while at work at the South Otago Freezing Company’s works at Finegand was resumed to-day before Mr H. J. Dixon, S.M., coroner for the district. Sergeant Armstrong represented the police. Mr Kelly appeared to .represent the South Otago Freezing Company, and Mr Bremner the relatives of the deceased. Messrs, Dawson (inspector of machinery), and Lightfoot (inspector of factories) were also present.
Alfred Henry Stowell, foreman of the tallow department at the works, gave evidence that the digesters were under his supervision. On February 26 the deceased went on duty at 4 p.m., and about 5 p.m. it was his duty to take over the digester. Witness went round the digester room between 4 and 5 p.m. Four or five of the digesters were working but No. 6 was not. The lid of the latter was on, so far as he could remember. This was the one where the accident occurred. It was half full of fat ready to boil. The steam heat would be about 200 degrees, sufficient to scald anyone. The lid would be 18 inches in diameter and weighed from 2cwt to 3cwt. The lid fitted on to a flange in the digester, making the lid practically air tight. The digester was eight feet in height and six feet in diameter. As witness was leaving the works he saw deceased on the top floor near the digester, and he said all the offal was up from below. All the deceased had to do was to put the lid on and turn on the steam. There was no danger with these digesters when the lid was off, but there was danger off an explosion if a current of cold air or cold water got in, with the pressure of steam on. There would be no danger if the steam pressure remained stationary. If the lid had been on and the full steam pressure on, the lid could not have been removed by the deceased. Witness had removed a lid when the steam was off and after the fat had been warmed up. After the accident witness went back to the works and found that the fat from No. 6 digester had been cleaned up and it was cooking normally. He considered the explosion to have been caused by a current of cold air getting in when the lid was lifted.
To Mr Kelly: In the previous season the deceased had been working the digesters. The deceased had been instructed to stand at the side when removing the lid, and had he done so on this occasion he would have missed the bulk of the blow-out. If there was steam coming out of the blow-off there would be danger, and the deceased should have known it. The digester was also fitted with a pressure gauge, which would indicate danger. His own opinion was that the deceased must have jerked the lid off quickly and the resultant rush of cold air caused the explosion.
To Mr Bremner: The steam was not on that particular digester, when witness left the works. The deceased relieved a man who went off at 5 o’clock. The deceased, unless told, could not know the condition of the digester if the heat were below boiling point, but there could not be an explosion unless the water and fat were boiling. The man going off the digester was supposed to leave instructions for his successor on a slate which was there for the purpose.
Alexander A. Macfarlane, medical practitioner, Balclutha, gave evidence that he was called to the freezing works on February 26, and found Taylor very badly scalded. He saw fat on the man’s clothing. Taylor was given an anaesthetic and taken to the hospital. He made an examination there and found that he was suffering from burns and scalds over about nine-tenths of his body. The only portion missed was a strip down the back. He died at 2 a.m. next day from the shock caused by the burns. These looked to have been caused by hot water or steam. Fat at 200 degrees Fahrenheit would have much the same scalding effect as hot water.
To Mr Kelly: Deceased’s hands and arms were scalded.
John McKenzie, employed in the tallow department at the freezing works, said he had been working the digesters for a number of years. On February 26 he went off shift at 5 p.m., Taylor relieving witness. The deceased came into the room about 4.45 p.m., and his first duty was to put the lid on No. 6 digester. A call came from the gut room that there was a truck of fat there. Witness said he would shut the steam off; and did so when he reached the bottom. He went then to where deceased was at the truck of fat. The latter said it was rather much to leave, and proceeded to take the truck up. Shortly after, he heard an unusual call, and saw deceased being held up on the lift. He saw that he had been scalded. The floor of the digester room was smothered in cooked fat. The truck of fat from the gut room was still on the lift. He saw that the lid of No. 6 digester was off and was hanging in its usual place. He was sure the lid had been either jerked or blown off.
To Mr Kelly: He had seen deceased standing in front of the digester when taking off the lid, and had told him it was safer to stand at the side.
To Mr Bremner. The steam could only have been on for five minutes when witness turned it off. The contents of the vat would then be about boiling point. The No. 6 digester was the only one used for fat; the others were for offal.
Lionel Stanford Dawson, inspector of machinery, Dunedin, stated that he had examined the digesters after the accident and had found everything in good order. In his opinion, there could have been no pressure of steam on No. 6 digester when the lid was removed.
To Mr Bremner: It would be a good thing to have a notice in the digester room warning the employees against removing the lids of the digesters when in work.
John Alexander Galbraith, an employee in the freezing chambers, stated that he had heard a scream and found the deceased badly scalded. He had not noticed steam escaping when he entered the digester room.
The coroner stated that the deceased had evidently found that a certain quantity of fat had been left out, and had opened the digester to put it in, when an explosion occurred. It was evidently a dangerous practice, but was done sometimes. There was no direct explanation as to what caused the fat to irrupt, but there was no evidence that it was caused by steam pressure, or that any blame was attachable to anyone. The verdict would be that deceased died from shock caused by scalding. -Otago Daily Times, 27/3/1931.
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