Volatile dangers found at hospital

Crushed flammable liquids are among safety issues found at Wellington Regional Hospital, a leaked document shows.

While Capital & Coast District Health Board said the highlighted problems were meant to be dramatic ‘‘to convey the seriousness of the need to improve health and safety’’ and were since fixed, they were real dangers found this year.

Liquid nitrogen was stored and transported in a $20 drinking thermos with a note reading: ‘‘Please do not screw the lids tightly liquid nitrogen needs to be able to vent.’’

The health and safety adviser who compiled the report noted staff had no formal training in handling liquid nitrogen and the thermos was not safe.

Lids could not be secured due to ‘‘risk of pressure increase and explosion’’ and there was a risk of spills, burns and asphyxiation if there was a spill in a confined space, the report said.

An external flammable liquids store, containing 1000 litres of flammable liquids and formalin, had no emergency response plan, fire extinguishers had not been tested in years, inspections were inadequate, and staff were not trained in managing risks.

Anything more than 15L of flammable liquid was legally required to be stored in a flammable liquid cabinet and away from ignition sources.

Yet the hospital had 120L of ‘‘highly flammable’’ 70 per cent ethanol with ‘‘no procedures in place to manage storage’’.

Oxygen cylinders – the equivalent of being 250 metres underwater – were unrestrained in the underground hospital car park, Otago Medical School, and in a cylinder store.

They were at risk of becoming ‘‘dangerous’’ projectiles while pure oxygen under pressure could combust with other materials such as oil, grease, hand creams or hand sanitiser.

Boxes of flammable liquids were found crushed in a store due to lack of stock rotation, waste including full oxygen cylinders and hydrogen peroxide were left in a store for years, and a vehicle – or ignition source – was found parked between two flammable liquid stores.

The health board’s corporate services general manager Thomas Davis said it had made health and safety improvements during the past two years contributing to a significant drop in lost time injuries.