3D Printer Safety Debated After Deadly Accident

[Clare S]

After a British teenager was killed by an explosion involving hairspray, a 3D printer, and flash paper, some worried that there might be consequences for at home 3D printing. It seems, however, that the accident was the result of the unlikeliest set of events and it is being viewed as such by members of the 3D printing community. Read more at 3DPrint.com: https://3dprint.com/154484/deadly-3d-printer-accident/

[Todd-67]

I know they say not berate the victim here but the flash paper, hair spray possible printer mods.... You can't blame the printing industry. The safety issues are minimal even with so called unsafe gasses emmitted when printing.

[Sebastian Finke]

Stupid People die young!

Shame on you. This is a terrible accident. Heartfelt condolences to the family.

[This]

there is no need for a debate, this accident has nothing to with 3D printing,
and only because there was a 3D printer in the room the media jumped on it, it is totally due to unsafe use of 3 cans of hairspray in a small closed room, and very unsafe storage of very flammable flash paper.

please stop dragging this totally misinformed news item about 3D printer safety, while it's about common sense, and his parent didn't have it

[ralphzoontjens]

The safety issues are minimal even with so called unsafe gasses emmitted when printing.

True, but as with most accidents:

the accident was the result of the unlikeliest set of events

As an example, when I was a teenager I once set almost the entire top floor on fire because
1. I was using spray deodorant the normal way
2. A friend came in and fired a toy cap gun
3. The aerosol deodorant ignited and set a large bottle of nail polish remover on fire that had spilled a bit resulting in sort of a fireball. I expected an explosion so I kicked the bottle away.
Then further away into another room, leaving the carpet on fire. When I realized it was a plastic bottle that was still intact with only the outside spills on fire, and not going to explode I extinguished the fire with wet towels. Now I use neither aerosols, cap guns (or nail polish removers)

So, it is up to us to prevent these things from happening and let's first be aware that a common can of hairspray contains an amount of propane gas.
That is a very flammable propellant and because of the flash evaporation and high density of propane it sinks to the bottom of the room where it can ignite if there is a heat source or say a spark from an electric outlet.
Then, we have to be aware that an explosion from a can of hairspray is significant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fioP8cflUIA
For me this marks the point where we stop using hairspray as anything else than hairspray and stick to other fixatives.

This is a terrible story and my condoleances to the family.

[This]

For me this marks the point where we stop using hairspray as anything else than hairspray and stick to other fixatives.
.

That's just nonsensical, the amount of spray needed is far below what your average woman uses to spray her hair,
you are just using examples that are very, very and very rare, your statement would imply that even breathing or walking the dog is a possible life threatening thing to do, en we should stop it, just to be sure

we should just stop this discussion, it's going nowhere, and has nothing to with 3D printing, nd is only a very unfortunate collection of very rare circumstance,
and you would sooner die of emancipated power-hungry ants that want to dominate the earth and all the planets in the surrounding milky way, then from a 3D printer mishap !

[Mjolinor]

That's just nonsensical, the amount of spray needed is far below what your average woman uses to spray her hair,
you are just using examples that are very, very and very rare, your statement would imply that even breathing or walking the dog is a possible life threatening thing to do, en we should stop it, just to be sure

we should just stop this discussion, it's going nowhere, and has nothing to with 3D printing, nd is only a very unfortunate collection of very rare circumstance,
and you would sooner die of emancipated power-hungry ants that want to dominate the earth and all the planets in the surrounding milky way, then from a 3D printer mishap !

Further to that if the risk is there and it is going to blow then I would much rather be spraying it at my 3d printer than at my head.

[curious aardvark]

flash paper is nitro cellulose.
You don't leave it lying around.

Yep this was a tragic accident, but nothing to do with 3d printers.

[noiseboy72]

I think what needs to happen is that individuals assess how and where they use their printer and to ensure that if they use flammable propellents the area is well ventilated - and clear of other flammable material.

Without doubt this was an extreme case, but it brings home that even quite benign hobbies can create dangerous situations. Was the printer itself to blame? No, of course not, but a contributory factor was using a flammable substance as part of the process.

Take a look around your work area and see if you can identify any uncontrolled hazards. Think about sources of heat, stability of the printer, electrical safety etc. How many of us run our printers unattended? Do we need to take any further precautions because of this?

Its still a tragedy, so let's try and learn from the situation and prevent anything similar from happening again.

[awerby]

There's no evidence that the unfortunate victim of this accident was "stupid". And it's insensitive at best for you to call him that in a public forum. It's more about civility (or lack thereof) than morals. Shame would be an appropriate response to a breach of civility like this, but we all realize that shamelessness is more common these days, especially among anonymous participants in online discussions.

I think there are several things we can learn from this tragedy. One would be not to use hairspray with a flammable propellant, especially anywhere near a source of sparks. Turning off the printer and any adjacent electrical devices while preparing the bed would be a good idea. And not keeping extremely flammable items near ones printer would also be worth considering.