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In a message dated 8/24/00 0:34:55 AM EST, lancair.list@olsusa.com writes:

<< we lost two
fellow employees at GE Plastics who mistakingly entered a Nitrogen purged
vessel >>

I have to second this.  I've been working in rocketry for over a decade.  You would think that filling a vehicle with high explosives and putting a match to it is the dangerous part, but the safety record says otherwise.  I'm told the two leading causes of death in the rocket world are asphyxiation from nitrogen and heavy equipment accidents (cranes, forklifts, etc).  I know for a fact that the largest accident catagory (non-fatal) at Orbital Sciences is "slips, trips and falls".

Fortunately, I don't think we're at much risk of nitrogen asphyxiation while filling up a landing gear strut or a tire.  But you might want to have your garage or hangar door open when you do it, just the same.  I wouldn't get any more concerned than that, although for you anal types, you can buy oxygen monitors that sound an alarm when the oxygen percentage goes below 15%.

- Rob Wolf

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