Investigation underway

MOSES LAKE - A silane unit operator working in REC Silicon's gas plant near Moses Lake burned his face and wrists during an apparent accident about midnight on Wednesday.

The worker's name wasn't released by the company, but REC President and CEO Goran Bye called the man "an experienced hat."

The employee was first taken to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake and was later transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He was being observed at Harborview on Wednesday. Bye said he didn't know the extent of the worker's injuries.

Through a colleague, Bye learned the worker is tired, but in good spirits and his wife is with him.

The company's human resources director was sent to Seattle, so the family doesn't have to think about practicalities, Bye said.

At the Moses Lake plant, REC takes silicon and runs it through a process that creates a pure gas called silane. The silane is used as a seed stock to grow it back to a silicon metal.

It appears the man received heat burns from flames when hydrogen ignited, not chemical burns, when he was preparing a hydrogen booster compressor for service, Bye said. So no toxic chemicals were part of the accident or released into the air.

The company is investigating the matter to determine the root causes, he said.

The employee was working in the existing plant, not in the area undergoing an expansion, Bye said.

"It's sad when things like this happen," he said in part. "We work on safety on so many levels."

The company's emergency response procedures worked well, Bye said.