Fatal alkali burns

A case is reported of a worker in an aluminium plant who was found lying in a shallow pool of concentrated caustic solution, which had been heated to approximately 95 degrees C. He had been employed to operate a pump draining a sump. A pressurised ruptured airline lay nearby, this being the likely precipitating cause of an alkaline spray. The spray led to the deceased running towards the nearest safety shower, at the base of which he was subsequently found. This is a relatively uncommon form of death, resulting from contact with a hot concentrated alkali solution. Subsequent experimentation indicated that the deceased had been in contact with the fluid for a period of approximately 13 min.