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 #14235451

BURN,REPAIR,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,FIRE,WELDING,EXPLOSION,TANK,ARC WELDING

Event
BURN,REPAIR,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,FIRE,WELDING,EXPLOSION,TANK,ARC WELDING
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14235451
Report ID
552700

Event description

EMPLOYEES BURNED IN TANK EXPLOSION AND SUBSEQUENT FIRE

Investigation abstract

EMPLOYEE #1 WAS INSTRUCTED TO REPAIR A LEAKING SEAM ON A DIESEL FUEL TANK. HE BE GAN TO ARC WELD THE FUEL TANK SEAM WITHOUT PROPERLY VENTING OR CLEANING THE FUEL TANK. AT APPROXIMATLY 8:59 AM THE FUEL TANK EXPLODED. THE ENSUING FIREBALL ENGU LFED EMPLOYEE #1, SETTING HIS CLOTHING ON FIRE. HE RAN ABOUT 50 FEET TO THE OFFI CE AREA, WHERE EMPLOYEE #2 ATTEMPTED TO SMOTHER THE FIRE WITH A FIRE BLANKET. EM PLOYEE #1'S SHIRT WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY CONSUMED BY FIRE BY THIS TIME. THE SHIRT W AS A MADE OF A SYNTHETIC MATERIAL WHICH STUCK TO EMPLOYEE #2'S HANDS AS HE ATTEM PTED TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE.

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 27 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    4
    Event type
    14
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    503
    Human factor
    18
    Environmental factor
    18
    Task assigned
    2
  2. #2 Hospitalized Age 43 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    12
    Event type
    10
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    503
    Human factor
    20
    Environmental factor
    18
    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.