Worker Cooked to Death in Steamer

[Ben]

I can think of worse ways to go, but not many. I think they need to review lockout / tagout at that plant.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/10/13/worker-cooked-to-death-in-steamer-machine-at-california-tuna-plant/?test=latestnews

[SADShooter]

After experiencing small steam burns, I do believe that would suck mightily.

[Jamisjockey]

Wow.  Someone's goose will get cooked over that one.

[Fly320s]

Can I get a batch/lot number for that run?  I don't want to buy the wrong tuna.

[vaskidmark]

There's something fishy about this - if you will pardon the expression.

Steamers used in commercial canning operations usually steam-cook the product once it has been packed into the steel containers.  The most common variety operate on a continuous-feed gravity-fed track that takes the can through a steam chamber - the can enters at the top with uncooked product and enters at the bottom with cooked product.  A large commercial operation would be very unlikely to have a kettle that needed to be filled with cans and then emptied once the cooking was completed.  And even if they did have a kettle, how was he not noticed?  (I know that the large institutional-sized kettles cannot be started until the lid is closed and the latches secured.  It would be very difficult to slip inside one/be slipped inside one  as it is being filled without someone noticing - unless a) he were incapable of calling out and b) the people doing the filling wanted him to be in there.)

If it was in fact a track operation, how did he get in the track (should just barely be big enough for the cans to pass by) and presuming he somehow did get in the track and somehow got caught, how coud the operation continue with him blocking the track?  If cans are not rolling through I'm pretty sure there is going to be some sort of alarm going off.

It just does not smell right to me.

stay safe.

[vaskidmark]

Can I get a batch/lot number for that run?  I don't want to buy the wrong tuna.

Here you go:  http://www.ask.com/web?q=date%20codes&askid=5a253663-1990-4e2a-9801-9d8f15c6401c-0-us_gsb&kv=sdb&dqi=bumble+bee+date+code&qsrc=999&o=4424&l=dir

Have not found anything for Bumble Bee, but another Ask.com response said Starkist is good for four years.  I'm  amending my time to go with mackerel.

stay safe.

[RoadKingLarry]

Can I get a batch/lot number for that run?  I don't want to buy the wrong tuna.

I quit eating tuna when the took the dolphin out of it, just doesn't taste the same.

[MillCreek]

There's something fishy about this - if you will pardon the expression.

Steamers used in commercial canning operations usually steam-cook the product once it has been packed into the steel containers.  The most common variety operate on a continuous-feed gravity-fed track that takes the can through a steam chamber - the can enters at the top with uncooked product and enters at the bottom with cooked product.  A large commercial operation would be very unlikely to have a kettle that needed to be filled with cans and then emptied once the cooking was completed.  And even if they did have a kettle, how was he not noticed?  (I know that the large institutional-sized kettles cannot be started until the lid is closed and the latches secured.  It would be very difficult to slip inside one/be slipped inside one  as it is being filled without someone noticing - unless a) he were incapable of calling out and b) the people doing the filling wanted him to be in there.

No, this was an error.  It posted before I was done.

I was going to say that I had seen a tuna canning line on the 'Tuna' episode of Modern Marvels.  The sealed cans were placed on racks and rolled into a large steam retort/pressure cooker.  They were cooked and cooled in the retort and then the pressure door was opened and the racks rolled out.  The retorts were large enough that a person could walk inside. 

[Doggy Daddy]

^^^^^ What?  You couldn't just say "+1" like a normal person?   

[Gewehr98]

That might be an improvement over the normal canned tuna.

[never_retreat]

The tuna is raw packed into cans. Cans are sealed and loaded into baskets. Baskets are put into a retort. (retort is a big pressure cooker)
The retort is closed up and filled with pressurized steam. (steam generated by a boiler) You have to get the cans up to 240F to kill off many of the nasties including botulism. The only way to keep steam at 240F is to keep it under 10psi of pressure.
Something tells me this guy was already dead. Commercial retorts are the size of a bus, plenty of space to walk out.

[never_retreat]

This is a small one. They get up to bus size also. I would imagine that a plant that does nothing but tuna they are quite large.

[MechAg94]

I'm curious, do they use nitrogen purges or anything else in those steamers?  Just trying to figure how that could happen.  Did he go in to fix or look at something and pass out some how or did he get trapped?

Unpleasant is all I can say.

[gunsmith]

I bet the bad publicity really has the company steamed.
The new foreman at the factory will be under a lot of pressure.

[Doggy Daddy]

I bet the bad publicity really has the company steamed.
The new foreman at the factory will be under a lot of pressure.

A person could be canned for a mistake like that.

[seeker_two]

I quit eating tuna when the took the dolphin out of it, just doesn't taste the same.

Agreed.....and human just isn't a great substitute, no matter how you slice it....