OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14235840
RESPIRATORY,ANHYDROUS AMMONIA,VALVE,GAS LEAK,PIPE,CHEMICAL
Event description
EMPLOYEE KILLED WHEN EXPOSED TO ANHYDROUS AMMONIA
Investigation abstract
FOR UNKNOWN REASONS, EMPLOYEE #1 PULLED THE NURSE TANK AWAY FROM THE FILL STATIO N, BREAKING OFF THE PIPE AT THE EXCESS FLOW VALVE. THIS RELEASED THE FULL FLOW O F AMMONIA THAT WAS BEING PUMPED. THE EMPLOYEE APPARENTLY BECAME DISORIENTED AND DROVE IN A CIRCLE, BACK TO THE FILL PUMP, WHERE THE TRACTOR ENGINE DIED. HE WAS FOUND HALFWAY INTO A LARGE STOCK TANK WHICH HAD BEEN FILLED WITH WATER TO BE USE D IN AMMONINA SPILL EMERGENCIES. ACCORDING TO THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, THE EMPLO YEE DIED OF "CHEMICAL ASPHYXIATION".
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 45 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 8
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0170
- 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.