Exploding Sockets Revisited

Recently, one of our sockets exploded while loosening a bolt using a HyTorc hydraulic wrench. No one was injured, but we take these incidents seriously, generating a “Near Miss” report and subsequent corrective action.

We discussed exploding sockets in a previous Safety Tip, which you can review in the May 8, 2012 post (see below). Since that post, we purchased TorcUp sockets for all our tool sets, and sprayed them yellow to make sure they were exclusively used with our HyTorc heads. One of these dedicated sockets broke under load. Please comment (below) on additional steps we can take for our corrective action.  We need your experience and expertise.

Additional information: The broken socket was less than a year old.  It was a 1” drive, 1 5/8” 12 point socket under an 8000 PSI load.  We chose TorcUP sockets as they were the middle of the road in pricing of the three vendors we reviewed (one was HyTorc).

All of us face similar safety concerns in our operations. If you would like one of your concerns discussed in this forum, please contact us via Mr. Turbine (click here) and we will start the conversation in our next newsletter. We will not share your contact info but you can also post anonymously.  Mr. Turbine will be happy to give an immediate response if you request it, but of course we must have your correct info.