Three employees equipped with respirators were preparing to paint a heat exchanger in a manufacturing plant. Their sandblasting work was almost finished. The portable air compressor used to supply breathing air to the sandblasters' hoods had already been sent on to another job, so the workers hooked their air supply hoses into the plant's air system without getting authorization from the plant management. Meanwhile, the plant operators, not knowing their air compressor was being used for breathing air, shut it down for scheduled maintenance. This caused the nitrogen backup system to come into effect to maintain air pressure. One of […]