Gas, not fumes, killed woman in McDonald's

[marmar]

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- A leaky carbon dioxide pipe connected to a soda fountain was apparently the culprit in the death of an 80-year-old woman at a Georgia McDonald's restaurant last week, the Associated Press reports. While the initial suspicion was that toxic cleaning fumes killed Anne Felton, an autopsy found no signs of such compounds but determined that she died from asphyxiation, the AP noted. The defective line "caused what is normally a harmless gas to be pumped into the wall cavity and leak into the women's restroom," Pooler, Ga., Police Chief Mark Revenew told the wire service. "At a high level of concentration, it displaces oxygen."


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gas-not-fumes-killed-woman-in-mcdonalds-2011-09-15?Link=obinsite

[louis-t]

1. Wow.

No words.

[Booster]

2. We need more safety regulations, not less. While they're

checking the restrooms for leaking gas they should check out the food there also.

[demosincebirth]

3. that will only hamper job growth. Didn't you know that?

[aikoaiko]

4. I think mcdonald;s policy is to check their bathrooms hourly. This is a freakish accident.

I'm surprised accounting didn't pick up on the lost gas when it was replaced too often.

[spin]

5. I once worked in a factory that had large temp cycle ovens that were cooled by CO2 ...

I remember on my first day at the job, I found that I was breathing harder and my heart rate had jumped up.

I looked over at the fellow training me and said, "I really don't know what is wrong, but I'm having a hard time breathing."

He laughed and replied, "No big deal, all the temp cycle chambers went to low temp at the same time."

We bitched and bitched to management. They took readings and announced that while the CO2 level was high, it was still within limits.

One weekend, only two workers were in the room. Their main job was to take readings on all the equipment in the chambers. One left on break and when he came back, he found his co-worker passed out by one of the ovens. He had been sitting in front of one of the chambers and since CO2 is heavier than air, he had been overcome. Fortunately, he recovered once he was removed from the room.

The company finally invested in an expensive system to vent the ovens.


source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide

[Shagbark Hickory]

6. Insert Fart Joke here.

n/t