Deadly Sin No. 6 – Ignoring Alarms
Ignoring alarms is the sixth sin in Crowcon’s series on the 7 deadly sins in gas detection. It may sound trivial, but alarms can be ignored if they go off so often that they become a source of irritation. There are examples where false alarms lead to the detector being turned off, which can have catastrophic consequences.
Why you should not ignore alarms
A lucky escape
There are many examples where alarms have been ignored or disabled. In one of these examples, authorities were urged to investigate a laboratory where nitrogen is used. In this case, an oxygen detector had given an alarm, which should have been sufficient warning to the laboratory technicians that something was wrong. Instead of taking appropriate precautions, the technicians cut the power to the control panel. If the panel had been installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions, it would not have been possible, but unfortunately, that was not the case here. The result was that the technicians fainted due to lack of oxygen and had to be rescued. Fortunately, no one died.
Quick, temporary solutions
Other examples include environments where low levels of toxic gas may occur. In this case, a reset button on a control system was taped over. This meant that the button was pressed in permanently, and the system could not give an alarm. In the event of a serious and dangerous gas leak, the system would not be able to warn the workers of the danger.
Similarly, paper cups over the gas detector’s sensor are also responsible for the lack of alarm activation.
A deadly environment
In another laboratory company, where a nitrogen leak occurred, the detector worked, the alarm sounded, and the control panel showed through the window 13% oxygen – a very dangerous environment. However, the alarm was ignored, and everyone carried on as usual until a service technician informed the manager.
Alarms should be alarming!
If the alarms go off so often that they are ignored, the situation must be resolved. Alarms that are ignored have previously led to fatalities.
To ensure this, it is appropriate to review the specific operating conditions to evaluate a suitable alarm setting. The user often maintains the manufacturer’s settings for the alarms, but for toxic gases, these settings are not necessarily suitable for all work environments. Therefore, the alarm level may need to be changed.
Get things under control
When gas alarms (or any other alarms for that matter) are ignored, it is important to understand what triggered the alarm. If there is no genuine gas alarm, the equipment may be faulty, or the alarm level may be set incorrectly. In any case, the situation must be remedied if an accident is to be avoided. Employees cannot rely on their own senses enough to determine what gases are in the air.
