OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14204721
OXYGEN,OXYGEN DEFICIENCY,ASPHYXIATED,CONFINED SPACE,SCBA,CARBON DIOXIDE,MANHOLE,RESPIRATOR
Event description
TWO EMPLOYEES DIE, FIVE INJURED IN CONFINED SPACE
Investigation abstract
At about 3:30 p.m. on October 10, 1986, Employee #1, a self contractor, arrived of carbon dioxide after climbing out of the vault unaided. Firemen using self co ntained air respirators removed Employees # 1 through 3 from the vault, but were unable to revive Employees #1 and 2, who were pronounced dead at the hospital. Employees # 3 through 7 were hospitalized for asphyxia. to inspect the sawmill's fire protection sprinkler system backflow valve located in an underground vault 8 ft deep by 6 ft wide by 12 ft long with a 31 in. manh ole opening. At about 4:20 p.m. a truck driver saw Employee #1 laying in 14 in. of water at the bottom of the vault and reported it to the mill office. Meanwhil e, Employee #2 attempted to rescue Employee #1 and lost consciousness. Employee # 3 attempted to rescue Employee #2 and became disoriented. Employees # 4 throug h 7, the policeman and firemen paramedics, attempted rescue without proper equip ment and required treatment for an oxygen deficient atmosphere with high levels
Victims (7)
-
#1 Fatality Age 58 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 689
- Human factor
- 16
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0530
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Fatality Age 42 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 307
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0530
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#3 Hospitalized Age 24 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 505
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0530
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#4 Hospitalized Age 36 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 29
- Occupation code
- 418
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0530
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#5 Hospitalized Age 27 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 29
- Occupation code
- 418
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0530
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#6 Hospitalized Age 31 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 29
- Occupation code
- 417
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0530
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#7 Hospitalized Age 43 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 29
- Occupation code
- 417
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0530
- 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.