OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14203913
WOOD CHIPS,DUST,EXPLOSION,SPARK,TRAMP METAL,CONTUSION,FOOT,HOPPER
Event description
WOOD DUST EXPLOSION
Investigation abstract
ALTHOUGH ONLY ONE MINOR INJURY OCCURRED BECAUSE OF THIS DUST EXPLOSION, THE POTE ED AREA OF THE LARGE AND OPEN-SPACED DUMP HOUSE. BECAUSE THE BELT CONVEYER WAS C OVERED, THE FLAME WAVE WAS ABLE TO TRAVEL THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE CONVEYOR SYST EM, RUNNING AHEAD OF THE SPRINKLER SYSTEM LOCATED ALONG THE INSIDE OF THE CONVEY ER COVERING. THE FIRE REACHED THE TWO MAIN STORAGE BUILDINGS VIA THE CONVEYER SY STEM. ADDITIONAL DUST WAS PROBABLY SUSPENDED IN THE AIR FROM A PILE OF SAWDUST, CHIPS AND TRIMMINGS, CAUSING A SECONDARY EXPLOSION. THIS OCCURRED EACH TIME THE FIRE ENTERED ONE OF THE TWO STORAGE BUILDINGS. A THIRD "WET" STORAGE BUILDING WA S NOT BADLY DAMAGED BECAUSE NO FIRE BROKE OUT THERE. THE INJURED EMPLOYEE WAS WO RKING ON TOP OF THE SANDER DUST BOX, LOCATED ABOUT THIRTY FEET FROM THE WEST BUI LDING. WHEN THE EXPLOSION PANELS ON THE WALL OPENED, THE RUSH OF AIR KNOCKED HIM NTIAL FOR EXTENSIVE INJURY AND DEATH AMONG EMPLOYEES AT THIS MILL IS EVIDENT IN OFF THE SIX-FOOT HIGH BOX. THE EMPLOYEE BRUISED HIS FEET WHEN HE LANDED ON THE GROUND. THE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DAMAGE DONE TO TWO MAJOR BUILDINGS AT THIS LOCATION A ND BY THE SPEED WHICH THESE BUILDINGS BURNED TO THE GROUND ONCE THEY CAUGHT FIRE . ON FEBRUARY 14, 1985, AT APPROXIMATELY 12:50 PM, A PIECE OF TRAMP METAL WAS AC CIDENTLY DUMPED INTO THE SOUTH SIDE HOPPER ALONG WITH A LOAD OF WOOD CHIPS AND P LYWOOD TRIMMINGS. THE METAL PIECE (A LARGE CHUCK OF CHIPPER KNIFE) DID NOT PASS THROUGH THE METAL DISC SCREENS LOCATED A FEW FEET FROM THE HOPPER. THE MOVEMENT OF THE SCREENS CAUSED A SPARK TO OCCUR. THE SPARK IGNITED THE DUST IN THE CONFIN
Victim
-
#1 Non-hospitalized injury Age 30 M
- Nature of injury
- 3
- Part of body
- 11
- Event type
- 5
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 864
- Human factor
- 8
- Environmental factor
- 15
- 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.