Engineer died instantly in ammonia leak
20th June 2018UK: Engineer David Chandler was said to have died instantly when a “great blue cloud” of ammonia refrigerant hit him in the face, the inquest into his death has heard.
David Chandler, an employee of lift and shift company Speedrite, had been involved in removing an old refrigeration compressor from the Carlsberg brewery in Northampton in 2016 when the incident occurred.
According to BBC reports, Speedrite operations manager Clive Bignall told the inquest at Northamptonshire Coroner’s Court today that the compressor had got stuck as he and colleague Stuart Wright tried to move it using an overhead hoist. They had been preparing to push and pull the compressor, when the ammonia had exploded straight out of the pipe, passed over his shoulder and hit David Chandler in the face.
The Northampton Chronicle and Echo has reported that despite checks by contractors Crowley Carbon on two separate valves, a valve suddenly leaked while the compressor was being moved.
