OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14214969
COMPRESSOR,PROTECTIVE CLOTHING,VAPOR,DEGREASER,SHUT-OFF VALVE
Event description
EMPLOYEES EXPOSED TO SOLVENT VAPORS FROM DEGREASER
Investigation abstract
On Sunday, August 9, 1987, Employees #2, #3, and #4 were in the plant while the n, and released. The production area doors were opened and the building was vent ilated. The degreaser is a 60T degreaser with a capacity of 110-115 gallons, loc ated in an area of approximately 90 feet by 30 feet. The cooling compressor for cold water coils was replaced to avoid the current problem. plant was shut down. They noticed an odor coming from the production area. After investigating, they determined that it was coming from the vapor degreaser in t he finishing area. Employee #2 attempted to call the maintenance manager but cou ld not reach him. Employee #3 attempted to shut off the vapor degreaser but was unsuccessful. The vapors set off the fire alarm and the Fire Department responde d. Employee #1 donned the Self Contained Breathing Apparatus and chemical protec tive suit and went into the degreaser and shut it off. Employees #1, #2, #3, and # 4 were taken to the hospital where they showered, were checked as a precautio
Victims (4)
-
#1 Non-hospitalized injury Age 52 M
- Nature of injury
- 8
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 19
- Human factor
- 9
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 48 F
- Nature of injury
- 8
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 313
- Human factor
- 9
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1720
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#3 Non-hospitalized injury Age 33 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 13
- Human factor
- 9
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1720
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#4 Non-hospitalized injury Age 37 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 13
- Human factor
- 9
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1720
- Task assigned
- 2
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.