Fire extinguisher major incident - metal cap came out & dashed to the fatal person's neck portion

Dear all, I want more information about the fire extinguisher because one major incident happened in my near to company during the training & there may be the possibility of the metal cap came out & dashed to the fatal person's neck portion. (Extinguisher -DCP -5kg)
What may be the possibility of such an incident.
As like ---
1. No proper servicing
2. Metal cap lose
3. Anyone playing with an extinguisher
4. Pressure built up inside due to chocking.
Any other reason pl.provide information to avoid further incident & what is the working pressure of the extinguisher.

Dear Mr. Shinde ,
before 2-3 years I heard same type of incident in one chemical industry . such incident can be avoided by taking due care as you mentioned.
One important point is Line of fire . One should not stand /put himself or herself in line of fire . while operating such equipment/instrument one must take position away from hazard's path . e.g when striking on fire extinguisher's knob , opening gas cylinder valve etc.
Good to see that you are participating in this forum and discussing your safety concerns.
Thanks
Abhay

Dear all,
Abhay Sir -thank u
If anyone have IS 2171 & IS 2878 pl.provide the same to investigate above said incident.
As per investigation it seems that
1.may be due to metal cap kept lose by servicing agency during servicing / refilling
2.May be the manufacturing defect.
Pl.discuss & co operate
Thanks & Reagrds,
L.P.Shinde

Dear Sir,
Following conditions will indicate as per IS 2190:19912 about probability of mechanical failure of an extinguisher and is unsafe for use:
1. Corrosion, wear or damage to threads of any pressure retaining part.
2. Corrosion of welds
3. Extensive general corrosion or severe pitting
Regards,
Hansa Vyas

Dear Sir,

Sorry to hear about the incident.These type of incidents are not unheard of.

Seems like the incident occured on a stored pressure extinguisher with a CO2 cartridge.

The following can be the possible causes

Powder

There is also a chance of the discharge tube getting blocked due to caking in the powder (which can occur due to poor quality of powder, moisture getting in the powder, powder not taken out during periodic inspection and de-caked,

Powder not replaced on time.

Cap and throat

Loose threads on the cap or

Cap itself placed loose after periodic inspection,

Threads got disintegrated due to corrosion.

Vent hole on the cap was blocked and not cleared during servicing

The extinguisher might have been repeatedly used for demonstration and cap not placed properly after in situ refilling.

Operation

Plunger got stuck and more effort was put to activate

Someone tried to open the cap after the extinguisher failed to discharge without giving time for the gas to escape through vent hole.

Placing face right on top of the extinguisher thereby coming in line of fire.

Thanks and Regards

Unnikrishnan Nellanat

Process Specialist-HSE

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd

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Dear Mr. unnikrishnan nellanat,
Good inputs from your post . Thanks Hansa . In my views such emergencies need to include in Onsite emergency Plan .
Thanks
Abhay

Dear Abhay,
To avoid such incidents regular inspection of fire extinguishers need to be carried out and during fire training & demo it should be taught to trainees to keep their body away from fire extinguisher and this incident should be quoted as example so that they should know consequence of operating fire extinguisher in its line of fire and show them how to operate it while keeping our body away.This is what i use to do during my fire training sessions.
Regards,
Hansa

Dear Abhay,
To avoid such types of incident , regular inspection of fire extinguisher is to be carried out. Fire extinguisher kept outside area should be protected from outside environment( Heat, rain etc). Inplant training to be practiced regularly , yes its true such type of incidents do occur in pressurized CO2 cartridge type of extinguisher.
Regards
Deepak Dorik

Dear Sir,
Two more Incident was happened in the same manner, while operating the Fire Extinguisher the metal cap was removed and the Cylinder hitted the Operting Person he lost his live. Considering of above incident the Government has changed some rules in Fire Extinguisher. Instead of Bang Type Cylinder now the Squeeze type cylinder was introduced by the companies. Its very safe to use and also once DCP Cylinder is operated means powder will come totally. But in the Squeeze type Cylinder depending upon our requirement we can squeeze. Try to Use Squeeze type cylinder to avoid such type of incident in future.