{"id":8088,"date":"2012-05-04T15:53:24","date_gmt":"2012-05-04T19:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/?p=8088"},"modified":"2013-07-01T17:41:28","modified_gmt":"2013-07-01T21:41:28","slug":"a-closer-look-at-brewery-accidents-after-the-deadly-redhook-explosion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/2012\/05\/04\/a-closer-look-at-brewery-accidents-after-the-deadly-redhook-explosion\/","title":{"rendered":"A Closer Look at Brewery Accidents After The Deadly Redhook Explosion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Karen Roe \/ Flickr<\/p>

How common are serious accidents at breweries?<\/p><\/div>\n

The accident that killed Redhook Brewery worker Benjamin Harris<\/a> shocked New Englanders.\u00a0 At seven o’clock on a Friday morning, the 26-year old newlywed and father-to-be was doing a routine task at the Portsmouth plant–pumping a plastic keg full of compressed air so that he could clean it.<\/p>\n

The keg exploded, mortally wounding Harris in the chest and head.<\/p>\n

Now OSHA<\/a>‘s investigating.\u00a0 The agency says it could be months before it knows what, exactly, is responsible for Benjamin Harris’ death, and if the incident was just a freak accident, or something the brewery could have prevented.\u00a0 Foster’s Daily Democrat<\/em> reports<\/a> Vice President of Commercial Operations, Andy Thomas confirmed “the keg that ruptured and critically injured Harris was not owned or used by Redhook Brewery<\/a>, nor was the keg owned by any other brewery operated by Craft Brew Alliance, Inc.<\/a>, Redhook’s owner and operator.”<\/p>\n

The notion of breweries as potentially dangerous places to work isn’t necessarily something that would occur to many people outside the industry.\u00a0 It can be easy to forget that breweries are manufacturers, and that the people working in these facilities are dealing with difficult and dangerous equipment.\u00a0 With that in mind, we’ve been gathering information this week to try to put this accident into context.\u00a0 How common are brewery accidents compared to other manufacturers?\u00a0 And what are the most common types of hazards these workers face?\u00a0 Paul Gatza is Director of the Boulder, Colorado-based Brewer’s Association<\/a>.\u00a0 The trade group represents craft breweries and small brewers.\u00a0 He points to his own experience with brewing.<\/p>\n

“There was three main areas that were definitely hazardous points,” Gatza says.\u00a0 “And those areas were anywhere where there were temperatures elevated or anywhere where there\u2019s tanks under pressure, or the combination of the two. The tanks were often cleaned with chemicals, so handling of chemicals was a third very important area for safety.”<\/p>\n

“Extremely Rare”<\/h3>\n

Keeping in mind that details are scant at this point, Gatza says the kind of accident that killed Ben Harris is extremely rare in his experience.\u00a0 “I\u2019ve only heard of one other, in terms of a tank actually blowing.\u00a0 I\u2019ve heard other stories of tanks actually crumbling, where they actually shrink in size from the pressures pulling it together.\u00a0 But this was a new one on me.”<\/p>\n

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