104,543Records 70,659Employers 84,666Hospitalizations 27,563Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-09-30
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14206395

LEAK,RESPIRATORY,MEK,VENTILATION,INHALATION,CHEMICAL

Event
LEAK,RESPIRATORY,MEK,VENTILATION,INHALATION,CHEMICAL
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14206395
Report ID
1054196

Event description

CHEMICAL LEAK IN LAB

Investigation abstract

AT APPROXIMATELY 10 PM ON MARCH 20, 1985, ABOUT 3 OR 4 GALLONS OF METHYL ETHYL K WORK WITHOUT BEING SEEN. THERE WERE NEVER ANY INJURIES OR DEFINITIVE SYMPTOMS. ETONE (MEK) LEAKED UNDER A CONFORMAL COATER MACHINE IN THE PROCESS LAB OF INTEGR ATED TECHNOLOGIES. THE LEAK WAS CLEANED UP. THE THIRD SHIFT DID NOT USE THE LAB UNTIL IT HAD BEEN VENTILATED. THERE WERE SEVERAL EMPLOYEES WHO HAD BEEN SLIGHTLY EXPOSED TO INHALATION OF MEK. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS SEEN MEDICALLY AS A PRECAUTIONARY MEASURE. EMPLOYEE #2 WAS A NURSING MOTHER AND EMPLOYEE #3 WAS THE CUSTODIAN WHO HAD CLEANED UP THE SPILL. THEY WERE SEEN STRICTLY AS A PRECAUTION THE NEXT DAY. ALL THE REMAINING EMPLOYEES WHO WERE SENT TO A MEDICAL FACILITY HAD NO SYMPTOMS OF OVEREXPOSURE. THEY WERE MET BY A DOCTOR IN THE WAITING AREA AND RETURNED TO

Victims (11)

  1. #1 Non-hospitalized injury Age 26 F

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    14
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    213
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0430
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #10 Non-hospitalized injury Age 21 F

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    14
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    213
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0430
    Task assigned
    1
  3. #11 Non-hospitalized injury Age 48 F

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    14
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    213
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0430
    Task assigned
    1
  4. #2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 22 F

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    14
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    213
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0430
    Task assigned
    1
  5. #3 Non-hospitalized injury Age 50 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    14
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    453
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0430
    Task assigned
    1
  6. #4 Non-hospitalized injury Age 23 F

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    14
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    213
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0430
    Task assigned
    1
  7. #5 Non-hospitalized injury Age 27 F

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    14
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    213
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0430
    Task assigned
    1
  8. #6 Non-hospitalized injury Age 27 F

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    14
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    213
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0430
    Task assigned
    1
  9. #7 Non-hospitalized injury Age 40 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    14
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    213
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0430
    Task assigned
    1
  10. #8 Non-hospitalized injury Age 31 F

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    14
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    213
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0430
    Task assigned
    1
  11. #9 Non-hospitalized injury Age 30 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    14
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    213
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0430
    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.