Workshop Safety Incident: AC Compressor Mishap at our Workshop

So yesterday I actually knew the reason why we were asked to put on our safety kits while at the workshop, which I never used to take seriously. At the workshop, we were working on a Ford Explorer 2016, the car Engine had some knocking sound, so we were asked to replace the Engine with a Belgium Engine.

We dropped the engine and then we installed the new Engine. After using the crane to put the Engine, we started coupling the other components of the car, like, the engine and gear sittings, the catalyst, the Alternator, etc. When we were about to fit in the AC compressor, the secretary of the workshop walked in and informed us that the owner of the car was also complaining of noise coming from the fan belt and that it would work and then seize for some time.

She also said the owner of the car was also complaining of his fan belt cutting always. Then one of the engineers working on the car suspected that it might be the Alternator or the AC compressor was seizing.

He asked the secretary to pick the AC compressor up and roll the head where the fan belt passes through to check if it has any noise. She did exactly as the Engineer instructed and said that there was an unusual noise coming from the AC compressor whenever she turned it. One of the Engineers now concluded that it was the AC compressor that had been cutting the fan belt and that it was condemned.

The secretary was about to drop the AC compressor down so as to also check the Alternator, smoke started coming out from the AC compressor, out of anxiety and tension, she flung it on the floor, but some of the corrosive substances had already dropped on her hand and her cloth.

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Those white substance you saw on the floor are the corrosive substance that came out of the compressor

She started screaming and crying for help. Immediately one of the staff rushed and grabbed her hands and took her to running water so as to dilute the acid because water reduces the strength of acids. The secretary was still screaming and complaining of hand pains before she was been rushed to a nearby clinic, her hand had already swollen up. She was treated and given some drugs to help reduce the pain. And her hand was also bandaged.

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What her hand looks like two days after the event.

N/B: All images are mine

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