Stripping enamels?

[BattleshipBob]

We had a student Pete / Tim, removed a expansion bottle cap to fast and received nasty facial burns in the college workshop. Tried to sue the lecturer/ college for damages etc, failed when his legal representative saw the notes and the very relevant H & S section on the dangers of the cooling system.

[Tim Marlow]

Stupid thing about all of this is that caustic dissolves readily in cold water, and the Britmodeller tip says to let it cool down before use anyway….so why use boiling water in the first place???

[BattleshipBob]

Only ever saw my dad using it down a blocked drain, that was one hell of a show!

[Tim Marlow]

We had a student Pete / Tim, removed a expansion bottle cap to fast and received nasty facial burns in the college workshop. Tried to sue the lecturer/ college for damages etc, failed when his legal representative saw the notes and the very relevant H & S section on the dangers of the cooling system.

That, in a nutshell, is the purpose of complex written safety procedures. They are there, in the main, to protect the company from litigation. Nobody works with them in hand, in any practical operation it is simply not feasible to do this. To be of any use they would need to be copied multiple times and kept in every single work station. The logistical overhead of this is simply unworkable, because of the work required changing all of them every time a minor update is made, so a master set is kept in one location.

The stupidest thing in my industry was that we had to follow Standard operating procedures (SOPs) word for word and line by line as a legal requirement. Not a problem at all, that’s the business we were in. However, we were simply not allowed to write safety requirements into these operational SOPs. Both HSE (who say they must be separate and follow a standard format) and MHRA (who say only critical production steps must be documented) regulations just didn’t allow it.

As to caustic solution, I must have used literally millions of litres of the stuff in pharma kit cleaning over the years. It is very safe as long as you treat it with respect. I think the problem is that people hear the word “Acid” and they immediately turn on the threat radar…..sodium hydroxide and caustic soda just don’t raise the same awareness. No one would contemplate mixing concentrated hydrochloric acid into boiling water would they….

[JR]

Please don’t try this John. It’s dangerous. Mixing caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) and water produces an exothermic reaction…meaning it generates heat, lots of it, as the sodium hydroxide dissolves. If you mix hot water with sodium hydroxide, especially pellets, the mixture can get superheated, boil violently, and spit concentrated sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) all over the surrounding area. I know because I once did it by mistake at work. Believe me, you only do it once :anguished:

Bloody hell ,Tim I didn' t want to get Mr StuG injured, glad you've mentioned the dangers.
Not a good idea from Britmodeler was it !

[Tim Marlow]

Just had a thought John….did Britmodeller perhaps mix up caustic soda and washing soda?

[BattleshipBob]

Very true John, always pays to get another opinion or advice, in my case my health!!

As I was teaching what was my skill and most importantly my workplace experiences especially dealing with cooling systems at about 120 degress. We had no official H&S notes, I made all my teaching material with a page on H&S. This what caught the student out, he put his name on his notes and passed the relevant test.