OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #1001015

WELLS DAIRY INC.

LEMARS, IA· 1986-01-27T15:15:00

Event: LEAK, VENTILATION, AMMONIA, INHALATION, VALVE, TOXIC FUMES
NAICS: 000000
Inspection type: Accident-driven
Activity number: #101923118
Employer profile: WELLS DAIRY INC.
Summary number: 1001015
Report ID: 751910

Event description

EMPLOYEES INHALED LEAKING AMMONIA FUMES

Investigation abstract

AT ABOUT 3:15 ON JANUARY 27, 1986, THE EMPLOYEES ON THE ICE CREAM FILLING LINE S MELLED AMMONIA. THE ODOR SEEMED TO COME FROM DOWNSTAIRS. THE EMPLOYEES FIRST WEN T TO A CONTROL ROOM FOR SAFETY. HOWEVER, AS THE SMELL WORSENED, THE EMPLOYEES WE NT DOWN THE STAIRS AND OUTSIDE THE PLANT. THEY WERE TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL FOR OBSE RVATION, AND SUBSEQUENTLY RELEASED. AN OPEN VALVE ON THE FIRST FLOOR CAUSED THE LEAK. ONE OF THE VALVES POPPED. A MAINTENANCE MAN HEARD IT AND SHUT IT OFF. THE AMMONIA WHICH LEAKED WAS WHAT REMAINED IN THE LINE. THE PLANT WAS AIRED OUT NO P ROBLEMS REMAIN.

Victims (14)

#1 Hospitalized Age 27 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#10 Hospitalized Age 32 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#11 Hospitalized Age 21 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#12 Hospitalized Age 26 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#13 Hospitalized Age 43 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#14 Hospitalized Age 39 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#2 Hospitalized Age 38 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#3 Hospitalized Age 27 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#4 Hospitalized Age 25 F

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#5 Hospitalized Age 20 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#6 Hospitalized Age 37 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#7 Hospitalized Age 23 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#8 Hospitalized Age 20 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1
#9 Hospitalized Age 27 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
9

Occupation code
754

Human factor
13

Environmental factor
7

Hazardous substance
0170

Task assigned
1

Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.