The Emergency Management Bureau of Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province recently issued a notice that on the afternoon of April 13, 2024, a septic tank gas poisoning accident occurred in a pig farm in Lichun Town, Pengzhou City. After the incident, relevant departments such as emergency, fire protection, health, agriculture and rural areas went to the scene to carry out rescue, and all 7 people have been searched and rescued from the pool. Among them, 4 people died after on-site rescue, and 3 people were sent to the hospital for treatment and died.
On the 14th, the reporter learned from local authorities that the poisoning accident was caused by an employee of the farm accidentally falling into the septic tank, and the rest of the personnel went to the rescue to be poisoned and killed. At present, the local area has carried out a survey of similar risk places.
▲Aerial photos of the farms involved. Image source: Jimu News
The toxic gas in the septic tank is commonly known as biogas. In the septic tank, the manure is fermented in an environment without oxygen, producing biogas, the main components are methane and carbon dioxide and a small amount of hydrogen sulfide, which can easily lead to suffocation, poisoning, and explosion.
Recently, there have been a number of fatal cases of biogas poisoning:
- In the early morning of March 20, 2024, in Pingchang County, Bazhong City, Sichuan Province, three children accidentally fell into a septic tank while playing on the lawn of Zhaorun Jiangshancheng Community. After the incident, the public security, fire protection, medical and other departments immediately rescued the scene and sent it to the hospital for rescue. After all-out rescue efforts failed, the three children unfortunately passed away.
- On October 15, 2023, Hu, a resident of Xiabaoping Village, Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei Province, accidentally slipped into the tank in the process of cleaning the septic tank of his pigsty. Nearby villagers rushed to the scene to rescue them, and four of them slipped into the pool during the rescue process. After the accident, Yiling District quickly carried out on-site rescue and medical treatment. As of the afternoon of October 18, five injured people had died one after another.
- On July 10, 2023, a villager in Zhaotong, Yunnan Province, was trapped in the livestock and poultry manure overflow tank in the process of cleaning up livestock and poultry manure by himself. After the accident, the relevant departments immediately rushed to the scene to carry out rescue, among the 6 trapped people, 4 people were rescued without vital signs, and 2 people died after rescue.
- On May 1, 2023, a villager in Jiangxi Province fainted due to biogas poisoning during an inspection in the fertilizer pond of his orchard, and then five of his relatives were poisoned one after another due to improper rescue, resulting in a total of 5 deaths and 1 injury.
Septic tanks, cellars, waste wells, biogas tanks, etc. are all limited spaces, and they are poorly ventilated, which can easily cause the accumulation of toxic and harmful, flammable and explosive substances and insufficient oxygen content, resulting in poisoning, suffocation, fire, explosion and other accidents. If the rescue is not done properly, it will also lead to the expansion of casualties and the occurrence of mass casualties.
How can accidents be avoided?
It's important to master this!
How to prevent septic tank poisoning and suffocation accidents?
1. Ventilation in advance
When entering the dangerous place to operate, natural ventilation or mechanical ventilation should be adopted in advance to let the biogas remaining in the working environment be discharged as much as possible.
2. Protective facilities
Before entering the workplace where biogas may be present, you should wear work protective clothing correctly, carry a portable alarm, and leave the biogas source immediately if you feel uncomfortable or find that the alarm is alarming.
3. The operation time should not be too long, and there should be a special person to take care of it
1. Once it is found that the person in the biogas digester has fainted and cannot be rescued quickly, you should call 120 for help.
2. Immediately open the lower mouth of the feed pipe and the discharge pipe, and quickly blow the biogas digester with a fan or blower to input fresh air.
3. Before the rescuer goes down to the pool, he should drain the combustible gas in the pool, tie the safety rope, and wear a gas mask.
4. Lift the poisoned person to the ground, untie the shirt and trouser belt for artificial respiration, and send him to the nearest hospital for rescue.
After an accident occurs, the relevant personnel at the scene shall immediately call the police and prohibit blind rescue.
When emergency personnel carry out rescue, they shall do a good job of self-protection and wear necessary breathing equipment and rescue equipment.
As the temperature rises
The risk of safety incidents in confined spaces increases
Understand confined spaces and learn to identify risks
Comply with operating procedures
After the accident, the rescue was carried out scientifically
It can effectively prevent accidents in confined space operations
"Ten Prohibitions" and "Ten Musts" for Limited Space