OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14254809
SANDERS BROTHERS, INC.
KINGS MOUNTAIN, NC·
Event description
EMPLOYEE KILLED WHEN OIL TANK EXPLODED FROM COMPRESSED AIR
Investigation abstract
AT APPROXIMATELY 1:30 PM ON OCTOBER 5, 1987, EMPLOYEE #1 WAS ASSIGNED THE JOB OF PUMPING QUENCH OIL FROM A 16 FOOT HIGH, 8 FOOT DIAMETER STORAGE TANK INTO A NEA RBY TANK TRUCK. THE OIL NEEDED TO BE REMOVED SO THAT THE TANK COULD BE MOVED. WI TH THE CONCURRENCE OF HIS SUPERVISOR, EMPLOYEE #1 REMOVED THE PRESSURE RELIEF DE VICE AT THE TOP OF TANK AND CONNECTED AN AIR LINE TO THE TANK AT 108 PSI. HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO FORCE OUT THE REMAINING 7 FEET OF OIL IN THE TANK WITH COMPRESSED AIR. AFTER 12 MINUTES, THE TOP OF THE TANK, WITH EMPLOYEE #1 ON IT, WAS BLOWN I NTO THE AIR. EMPLOYEE #1 LANDED 30 FEET AWAY ON THE PLANT ROOF. HE WAS KILLED.
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 35 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 2
- Occupation code
- 585
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 15
- Hazardous substance
- 8880
- 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.