Safety alert for air-conditioning installation

Following two recent incidents that have left one air-conditioning installer dead and another with severe facial injuries, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland has issued a Safety Alert to inform workers installing air-conditioning units about the risk associated with working on pressurised plant.

The safety alert provides guidance on ways to control the risks of working on pressurised plant and ensure a safe system of work is followed.

Investigations into the first incident revealed that the worker appeared to have been struck in the chest by the end of a pipe from an air handling unit’s chilled water coil, which was pressurised after manufacture, causing him to fall 3 m and dying from injuries sustained in the fall. The worker was using a pipe cutter to remove the end of the coil in preparation to install the unit when the incident occurred.

In the second incident, a worker using a pipe cutter to remove the end of the pipe was unaware that days earlier another worker had pressurised it. The end of the pipe struck him in the eye fracturing his eye socket. The incident could have been worse if the worker hadn’t been wearing safety glasses, which appear to have taken the brunt of the force from the projectile.

To eliminate the risk, the safety alert recommends that manufacturers of air-conditioning units de-pressurise coils after testing and prior to supply.

The alert also recommends a number of administrative controls. It suggests that manufacturers provide clear and adequate warnings on all air-conditioning units about the possibility that the unit’s coil could be under pressure and instructions on the safe use and installation of air-conditioning units.

It also recommends that all installers be given instruction, training and information about the safe use, installation and maintenance of air-conditioning units. They should also implement safe systems of work when working with air-conditioning units and associated plant, including reducing workers’ exposure to plant under pressure and the associated risk of serious bodily injury and/or death.