OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14258917
BURN,BUTANE,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,FIRE,EXPLOSION
Event description
FIRE AND EXPLOSION OF A BUTANE CLOUD
Investigation abstract
ON THE MORNING OF AUGUST 1, 1984, EMPLOYEE #1 WAS WORKING AT A SALT DOME WHERE B ANE LEAK. THE SOURCE OF IGNITION IS STILL UNDETERMINED. A POSSIBLE CAUSE OF THE LEAK MAY BE A FAILURE IN THE CASING OR THE VALVES. THE WELLHEAD AREA IS A CLASS I, DIVISION 2 LOCATION. THE ENTIRE AREA INSIDE THE FENCE 1S A "NO SMOKING/NO OPE N FLAME " AREA. A RECOMMENDATION WAS MADE THAT ONLY APPROVED DESIGNATED EQUIPMEN T FOR CLASS 1, DIVISION 2 LOCATIONS BE USED NEAR THE WELLHEAD AREAS. UTANE WAS STORED (850,000 BARRELS CAPACITY). HE HAD FINISHED CHECKING WELLHEAD # 5-1. HE WAS DRIVING A CUSHMAN TRUCKSTER (MODEL #898302-75101) WHICH WAS ELECTRIC ALLY OPERATED. HE DROVE THE TRUCKSTER INTO A BUTANE CLOUD. A FLASH FIRE AND EXPL OSION RESULTED, CAUSING SEVERE BURNS OVER 85 TO 90% OF EMPLOYEE #1'S BODY. BRINE WATER FROM A PIT IS USED TO MOVE BUTANE OUT OF THE DOME AND INTO THE PIPELINE S YSTEM. THE BUTANE APPARENTLY LEAKED INTO THE RETURNING BRINE CASING AND PROCEEDE D TO A PIT WHERE A CLOUD FORMED. THE COMPANY WILL PULL THE WELLHEAD WHEN ALL HYD ROCARBON PRODUCT HAS BEEN REMOVED AND ATTEMPT TO DETERMINE THE SOURCE OF THE BUT
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 30 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 4
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0420
- 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.