Hutchinson News – November 6, 2013
Photo by Tim Goessman.
A Hutchinson Airgas employee is dead after being struck in the head by a steel gas cylinder, a spokesperson for the company confirmed.
Police identified the employee as Jeffrey Enslinger, 34, of Hutchinson.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of a member of our Airgas family. Our sincere condolences and thoughts are with the family, friends, and colleagues of this associate,” said spokesperson Sarah Stockton-Brown in an emailed statement Wednesday morning.
Hutchinson Police Det. Cory Ogburn said emergency personnel were dispatched to the business at 1200 N. Grand shortly before 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, after an employee reported the injury.
Ogburn said two employees were filling an oxygen cylinder and something malfunctioned in the valve. The valve came off and “sent the bottle spinning like a helicopter blade,” Ogburn said, before the bottle hit one of the employees in the head. Hutchinson Fire Battalion Chief Doug Hanen said the bottle was approximately 2-feet tall. Another employee received a minor injury from the bottle to his lower leg, however Ogburn said it was not serious.
Enslinger was originally taken to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center, but then transported to a Wichita hospital. The company learned of the employee’s death overnight.
Stockton-Brown said that the facility was closed Wednesday as an investigation was underway to identify what caused the incident. She said there was no resulting impact to the facility or surrounding community from the incident.
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