Document 15aRqZp6RzoXnzRJapyGpdGxa

I re g re t to inform you of the d eath of th re e n ativ e lab o u rers a t Abadan as th e r e s u l t of c le a n in g tan k s which had contained lead ed s p i r i t . Two ta n k 3 were in v o lv e d and t h e work was c a r r i e d o u t by a c o n tra c to r employing casual la b o u r. No g a s masks w ere u sed b y th e men c le a n in g th e f i r s t ta n k a s th e atm osphere was c o n sid e re d fre s h * . T h is i s o f co u rse s t r i c t l y c o n tr a r y t o th e re g u la tio n s , b u t in e x te n u a tio n i t i s re p o rte d th a t th e ta n k was com paratively c le a n . The work was com pleted in s i x days. Work on th e second ta n k w hich was much d i r t i e r th a n th e o th e r a ls o to o k s ix days and, a s th e atm osphere was n o t c o n sid e re d * fre s h * , gas masks o f th e d ouble 'Bloman* ty p e w ere s u p p lie d f o r th e u se o f th e men and th e c o n tr a c to r was in s tr u c te d to make u n in te r r u p te d u se o f th e p r o te c tiv e equipm ent provided. Several tim es during the period th e Job O fficer supervising, found th a t the la b o u re rs were n o t u sin g th e f u l l p ro te c tiv e equipment as p e r h is in stru c tio n s and on each occasion i t is sta te d the in stru c tio n s and n e c e ssity fo r tak in g f u l l p recau tio n ary m easures were rep eated w ith em phasis. On th e l a s t day th e c o n tr a c to r and f o u r o f h i s men com plained o f fe e lin g unw ell and were sen t to h o s p ita l where, subsequently, th re e d ied . A Committee o f E nq u iry h as in v e s tig a te d th e circu m stan ces o f th e occurrence and, w ith a view to preventing a re cu rren ce of t h i s type of in c id e n t, th e fo llo w in g recom m endations were made (1) A T echnical Committee should in v e s tig a te th e procedure of handing over ta n k s and v e s s e ls fo r clean in g and main ten an ce, and fo rm u late s u ita b le re g u la tio n s w hich would ensure the im p o ssib ility of m isunderstandings and m isin te rp re ta tio n , to g eth er w ith such forms and perm its as w ill enable th e whole o f th e procedure to be covered in w riting. (2) ; Immediate arran g em en ts should be made to form a r e g u la r ly employed ta n k -c le a n in g gang w ith a su p e rv iso r capable o f carrying out the re s p o n sib ilitie s en tailed . I t is appreciated th a t tan k clean in g would n ot f u ll y occupy such a g a n g 's tim e, b u t i t i s c o n sid e re d t h a t th e men c o u ld be fo u n d o th e r work in th e a re a when n o t employed on ta n k s , t h i s being an advantage i n t h a t i t would g iv e th e men s p e l l s in which to re c o v e r from any adverse a f f e c ts of th e ir normal work. These recommendations are being p u t in to immediate e f f e c t. You w i l l g a th e r fro m th e above th a t Abadan now f u l l y a p p r e c ia te the hazard involved in cleaning leaded s p ir it storage tan k s, and I th in k i t is most u n lik e ly th a t th e re w ill be any fu rth e r accid en ts from th is cause. Yours si n c e re ly , ( s ig n e d ) c . a . h a r r is o n . 0 0 215 41