INEEL Accident Investigation
1998 INEEL Fatal Accident
- On July 28, 1998, a total flood type carbon dioxide fire extinguishing system discharged without warning into an electrical room at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The carbon dioxide system control panel was a Notifier model AFP-200. Workers were doing routine maintenance in the room. One fatality and a number of injuries resulted from this accident.
- GSI’s Tom Wysocki was called in to provide an independent review of the accident and determine its causes. Wysocki led a team of scientists and engineers which conducted an extensive onsite investigation, followed up with laboratory tests and simulations. The investigation definitively determined that a design defect in the system control panel caused the carbon dioxide system to discharge without warning.
- The technical details of the direct cause of the accident are contained in the “Supplemental Response to the Type A” and the “Specific Mechanism Report.” This information is “must” reading for anyone involved with fire suppression systems which employ electronic controls.
- GSI’s Tom Wysocki was called in to provide an independent review of the accident and determine its causes. Wysocki led a team of scientists and engineers which conducted an extensive onsite investigation, followed up with laboratory tests and simulations. The investigation definitively determined that a design defect in the system control panel caused the carbon dioxide system to discharge without warning.
- In 2005, several safety-related enchancements to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 12 on Carbon Dioxide Fire Extinguishing Systems resulted, in part, from the findings of this investigation.
