ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 64

COLUMN REFRIGERATION APPLICATIONS
What Does Safety Cost?
BY ANDY PEARSON, PH.D., C.ENG., MEMBER ASHRAE
One hundred and twenty years ago a fire in
the cold storage facility at the World's Fair
in Chicago claimed the lives of 16 victims,
mainly fire fighters, and injured many
more.1
Recent news reports of multiple
fatalities in China and India have shown
that the lessons have still not been learned.
Multiple contributory factors in the Chicago fire were
identified in the paper I presented to ASHRAE in 2009.1
The plant was steam-driven and the chimneystack from
the boilers had not been built according to the approved
drawings, leaving the decorative wooden trim at the top of
the stack liable to be ignited by the hot gases. The boilers
had been reduced from the original specification to save
money, but the refrigeration load had been increased. The
structure of the building was made of flammable material
and the air-distribution system within the
building helped to spread the fire.
Emergency resources on site were inadequate;
for example, there were no ladders
capable of reaching the top of the stack, and
the water pumps did not have enough pressure
to spray it from a lower level. Completion
of the building was delayed by late changes
to the design, including the addition of an ice rink on the
top floor of the building, which was being commissioned
on the day of the fire. The plant had probably never been
worked so hard before, and was not properly commissioned.
There was supreme overconfidence in the construction
company, store operators and fire department.
The lessons for today are as relevant as they were 120
Andy Pearson
defrost systems, but it usually does not break the system
the first time it happens. Warning signs such as banging
or knocking during defrost must not be ignored. It
is extremely important to develop a safety culture that
records "near misses" as well as accidents and treats
them as seriously as if a casualty had occurred.
Investigating accidents such as the Chicago Cold Store
fire is difficult because sometimes there is not enough
information but there also can be too much. It is possible
to have two contradictory statements, and the investigator
must consider whether each witness is credible, whether
his statement makes sense and whether it matches what
other people are saying. Two apparently contradictory
statements can sometimes be reconciled when the whole
story is known, but it is also possible that both witnesses
are wrong and the truth lies somewhere else.
Eyewitness accounts are particularly useful-they tell you
The lessons of the 1893 Chicago
fire are still not being heeded.
what they saw, and what they heard, smelled and felt. They
also tell you what they didn't experience-for example,
there are no reports of a smell of ammonia
immediately before the fire. They will also
describe things that they saw but didn't understand-for
example, several witnesses to the
Chicago fire mentioned a puff of white "smoke"
from the base of the chimneystack. This is
thought to have been steam, vaporized by a fire
at the foot of the chimney when the fire fighters
started spraying the top of the stack.
Follow the design, even if you don't understand it, and
years ago. The original designs were not followed in order
to save cost, which greatly increased the risk of accident.
We still see people taking uncalculated risks by skimping
on safety provisions in projects or by ignoring apparently
unimportant design details to save money. It is also evident
that many warnings were ignored in the 1893 incident,
and the same is true today.
Systems seldom fail catastrophically without there
being a prior series of advance warnings. For example,
liquid hammer can cause large ammonia leaks from
64
A SHR A E J O U RNA L
ashrae.org J A N UARY 2014
seek approval from the designer for any changes. Make
sure that the plant is properly commissioned, do not just
set to work. This includes confirming to the designer that
the plant behaves as intended, with no surprises. Make
sure that safety equipment is provided and is in good order
and establish a review procedure to ensure that the plant
and associated equipment remains in good order. Use
news of other accidents and near misses to improve your
plant safety. It is good to learn from your mistakes, but it is
always better to learn from someone else's.
References
1. Pearson, A. 2009. "Lessons learned from the cold storage fire at the
Chicago World's Fair of 1893." ASHRAE Transactions.
Andy Pearson, Ph.D., C.Eng., is group engineering director at Star Refrigeration in Glasgow, U.K.

ASHRAE Journal - January 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - January 2014

ASHRAE Journal - January 2014
Contents
Commentary
Industry News
Letters
Meetings and Shows
Effect of Heat Rejection Load and Wet Bulb on Cooling Tower Performance
Shaping the Next... Building and Energy
Texas Hospital Central Plant Redesign
Detecting Faults in Hong Kong High-Rise
Engineer's Notebook
HVAC Applications
Refrigeration Applications
Energy Modeling
The Performance Gap
Data Centers
People
Classified Advertising
Advertisers Index
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - B1
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - B2
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - ASHRAE Journal - January 2014
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Cover2
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 1
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 2
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Contents
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Commentary
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 5
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Industry News
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 7
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 8
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 9
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 10
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 11
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 12
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Letters
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Meetings and Shows
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 15
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Effect of Heat Rejection Load and Wet Bulb on Cooling Tower Performance
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 17
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 18
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 19
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 20
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 21
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 22
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 23
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Shaping the Next... Building and Energy
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 25
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 26
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 27
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 28
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 29
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 30
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 31
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 32
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 33
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 34
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 35
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Texas Hospital Central Plant Redesign
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 37
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 38
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 39
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 40
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 41
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 42
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 43
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 44
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 45
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Detecting Faults in Hong Kong High-Rise
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 47
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 48
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 49
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 50
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 51
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Engineer's Notebook
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 53
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 54
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 55
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 56
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 57
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - HVAC Applications
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 59
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 60
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 61
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 62
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 63
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Refrigeration Applications
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Energy Modeling
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 66
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 67
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - The Performance Gap
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 69
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 70
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 71
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 72
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 73
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Data Centers
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 75
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 76
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - People
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Classified Advertising
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Advertisers Index
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - 80
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Cover3
ASHRAE Journal - January 2014 - Cover4
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