Careful With That Wort Johnny - A Near Miss

[The King of Spain]

Put down a brew today, 2nd in 3 days trying to build up depleted stock (zero actually).

I put my copper coil in the boiler to chill and discovered to my horror that the boiler must not have been central over the burner. The whole thing tipped towards me spilling 1 or 2 litres of hot wort. I was able to jerk the whole thing upright using the coil and only got a little on myself. It would not have taken much to have had the whole lot down my chest and legs, not to mention in-between.

Now I get absolutely sick of the safety "religion" at work because of the hypocrisy that comes with it, but I do think this is worth somthing of a safety moment.

I will be making some adjustments to my set-up so this does not happen again.

So I open myself up for all the wisecracks but maybe someone else can learn from this.

Cheers

KOS

PS - Still got 21 litres of ESB into the fermenter. Hit all my target gravities and temps so looking forward to a good non-commercial beer in the near future

 

[seravitae]

No wisecracks here. Nearly killed myself this year due to getting too comfortable with a process and getting sloppy. Nothing like a near death experience to right your ways with the safety gods.

 

[beerbrewer76543]

Sounds like you were lucky to avoid a hot sticky mess in your crotch

 

[MeLoveBeer]

You aren't the first to do that, and sure as hell won't be the last... nice save (both for recovering the wort and protecting yourself)

 

[Wolfy]

So I open myself up for all the wisecracks but maybe someone else can learn from this.

I think its actually a good reminder/lesson.
If my legs were not so hairy I'd take a photo of my hot-wort scars, was a few months ago now so I'm starting to think that they might be there to stay, didn't even hurt that much at the time, saving the beer was more important than the burns. :beerbang:

 

[marksfish]

even though i am an o.h+s rep at work i agree a lot of it is b/s, but all d.i.y can be very dangerous and with all the bits and bobs used in home brewing from the mill to bottles care should be taken along the whole process. its good to hear that you did not get badly hurt, but remeber safety is no accident!.

 

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

No wisecracks here. Nearly killed myself this year due to getting too comfortable with a process and getting sloppy. Nothing like a near death experience to right your ways with the safety gods.

had one myself 2months ago came too close to getting crushed by a 5T length of steel. Still keep getting phonecalls and visits from OH&S

 

[Bandito]

I think its actually a good reminder/lesson.
If my legs were not so hairy I'd take a photo of my hot-wort scars, was a few months ago now so I'm starting to think that they might be there to stay, didn't even hurt that much at the time, saving the beer was more important than the burns. :beerbang:

The better option as you would now know would be to regard yourself - the head brewer - as the most important thing in the brewery. In many of my escapades I try to develop a mentality of I am more important then the escapade. So If I am brewing, I am more important than a 40L mash, and if I need to go to bed, then I do and to hell to the brew - my job is more important and so is my sleep etc. Likewise, if the pot is falling, I would like to think that I wouldnt stand in front of it to save it, rather jump out of the way. Its only wort which can be made again (see my sig - had it for the past week). Burns are hell to heal, and can end up costing weeks or months off work, doctors, specialists, skin grafts, infections etc. I havent had that happen in brewing, but when it does, and it will someday, I hope I jump out of the way instinctively due to my lack of respect for the wort.

So how bad was it Wolfy? You gotta show us mate, as a community service.

had one myself 2months ago came too close to getting crushed by a 5T length of steel. Still keep getting phonecalls and visits from OH&S

Thats Fuched dude! Burns are Real bad, but having a truss fall on you is worse.

 

[bum]

I havent had that happen in brewing, but when it does, and it will someday, I hope I jump out of the way instinctively due to my lack of respect for the wort.

What are you talking about? You won't even be in the room!

 

[Bandito]

Yea, true. I have had similar close calls though (with soup, soldering, making various inventions). When handling dangerous stuffs I try to put me ahead of the stuff. I trained as a chemical laboratory technician, so when dealing with acids I needed to make sure that rather than throw myself infront of a falling beaker of nitric acid, I should jump out of the way and let it fall and just deal with the cleanup. Wether that be boiling hot soup out of the microwave or whatever. And this is the sort of senario I would think about and plan my action in the event of it happening. I would visualise it tipping over and jumping out of the way rather than jumping in front of it to use my chest as the thing that stops it from falling.

My point is that hopefully by developing a higher respect for the head brewer than the brew my instinct will be to protect me rather than the brew. But this mentality has led to a few sour brews that have been horrible/undrinkable, but at least I am still here and still have the same job.

 

[rude]

havent read the whole thread BUT would love a one tier one march pump 3 vessel system is this possible by interchanging silicone hose or do you need 2 march pumps

 

[Bandito]

havent read the whole thread BUT would love a one tier one march pump 3 vessel system is this possible by interchanging silicone hose or do you need 2 march pumps

Where the hell did that come from?!?*!

I believe so. Have a search of the gear and equipment thread - there are quite a few there.

Just did a search for '1 pump': http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Awww....p;qfront=1+pump

Top hit is this thread: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=27934 There are plenty there.

 

[Wolfy]

So how bad was it Wolfy? You gotta show us mate, as a community service.

I expect it would have been bad if I was wearing shorts/thongs, but since I had jeans/shoes most of it splashed away. A short time later I actually realized how hot it was and pulled the jeans off and put my leg under the shower, it was not bad enough to require professional care, just enough to leave a nice pink mark down the inside of my leg that's still there months later.

 

[Jez]

havent read the whole thread BUT would love a one tier one march pump 3 vessel system is this possible by interchanging silicone hose or do you need 2 march pumps

Of course, my brewery's one tier & is interchangeable silicon hose with polysulphone disconnects & one march pump. It works great.

Jez

 

[Bandito]

Glad it not too bad. Sounds like it should heal eventually. It took a good 9 months for my hand to heal after grabbing hold of a molten plastic screwdriver handle at school (had a massive blister for a few weeks before it popped. I have a theory that beer helps skin growth and shedding - its why I look so young and grow hair and nails fast. So keep up the beer consumption for the next 6 months. I'm not a doctor! But you cant go wrong with that advice!

Disclaimer:
Beer may adversely affect your motor performance. Do not operate motor vechiles or heavy machinery whilst taking this medicine. Adverse effects may include an increased sense of confidence, flactulance, bloating, vomiting and a desire for greasy foods.

My theory is yet to be tested by professionals as far as I know.

Of course, you should see an actual doctor so they can have a look at it. Burns are common and most doctors know how to treat them. Although, apart from pain relief and moisturiser, not sure what they would prescribe apart from beer, but thats why you should see one.

 

[bcp]

This began as a serious topic, then became like a monty python sketch.

"I was nearly killed by a steel truss"
"Yes, but would 2 tiers work by interchanging silicone hose?"

 

[Bandito]

perhaps this thread encouraged rude to move to a static brewery with less risk of such injurys?

 

[goomboogo]

The better option as you would now know would be to regard yourself - the head brewer - as the most important thing in the brewery. In many of my escapades I try to develop a mentality of I am more important then the escapade.

How does this comment reconcile with breaking the regulator for the stove-top gas supply or some of the other dodged-up suggestions to acquire sufficient electricity to boil 100 litres. I don't see how running the real risk of burning your kitchen down by incorrectly attempting to get more gas to a kitchen cook-top is regarding yourself more important than the escapade.

 

[yardy]

Put down a brew today, 2nd in 3 days trying to build up depleted stock (zero actually).

I put my copper coil in the boiler to chill and discovered to my horror that the boiler must not have been central over the burner. The whole thing tipped towards me spilling 1 or 2 litres of hot wort. I was able to jerk the whole thing upright using the coil and only got a little on myself. It would not have taken much to have had the whole lot down my chest and legs, not to mention in-between.

Now I get absolutely sick of the safety "religion" at work because of the hypocrisy that comes with it, but I do think this is worth somthing of a safety moment.

I will be making some adjustments to my set-up so this does not happen again.

So I open myself up for all the wisecracks but maybe someone else can learn from this.

Cheers

KOS

gday KOS,

I haven't had a close call like yours but I've been meaning to weld a couple of locators on the stand where the kettle sits, will probably do it today actually, what mods are you doing ?

I know what you mean about the 'safety gurus', we've got an asbestos situation on a job i'm on atm and i got pinned by one of them for not having my earplugs in, I asked him should i shove them up my nostrils to keep the asbestos out...
******* tossers have no idea..

Dave

 

[Lilo]

Admit it, most of us do it cos its living on the edge.

Homemade Gas
+ Homemade Elec
+ Homemade Water
+ Beer
+(in many cases little to no knowledge of many of the above) = What could possibly go wrong....

I think erveryone has a near miss story. Not a real home brewer until you do..

Having said that I am sure we all have a little safety fairy sitting on our shoulders saying things like
"I should get that checked by someone more qualified than me before turning it on"