FATAL ALKALI BURNS

A case is reported of a worker in an aluminium plant who was found lyi ng in a shallow pool of concentrated caustic solution, which had been heated to similar to 95 degrees C. He had been employed to operate a p ump draining a sump. A pressurised ruptured airline lay nearby, this b eing the likely precipitating cause of an alkaline spray. The spray le d to the deceased running towards the nearest safety shower, at the ba se of which he was subsequently found. This is a relatively uncommon f orm of death, resulting from contact with a hot concentrated alkali so lution. Subsequent experimentation indicated that the deceased had bee n in contact with the fluid for a period of similar to 13 min.