OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14295919
BURN,PILOT LIGHT,HEATER,FIRE,FLASHBACK,PROPANE,FACE,WRIST
Event description
FLASH-BACK FROM PROPANE HEATER
Investigation abstract
AS PART OF A MONTH OLD SERVICE CONTRACT WITH A SUPERMARKET CHAIN, A JOURNEYMAN H ED THE THERMOSTAT FULLY ON. THIS OPENED THE PILOT GAS SOLENOID, BUT (UNKNOWN TO HIM) THE GLOW PLUG WAS EVIDENTLY INOPERATIVE. WHEN HE GOT BACK TO THE UNIT AND S TRUCK A MATCH IN THE HOLE NEAR THE PILOT, THE ACCUMULATED PILOT GAS FLASHED, RES ULTING IN MILD SECOND DEGREE BURNS ON THE FACE AND WRIST. MODERN PROPANE UNITS R EQUIRE THAT IF THE PILOT DOESN'T "MAKE" IN 30 SECONDS, FOR WHATEVER REASON, THE ENTIRE UNIT WILL SHUT DOWN AND LOCK OUT. ALSO, THE APPARENT NEED TO LIGHT THE PI LOT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A TIPOFF THAT SOMETHING WAS AMISS. VAC MECHANIC WAS SENT TO "START UP" VARIOUS PROPANE-FIRED HEATERS, INCLUDING TWO IN-LINE DUCT UNITS. BOTH WERE GLOW PLUG START UNITS (NO STANDING PILOT), WHICH HE DID NOT REALIZE. HE ALSO HAD NO MEANS OF "PROVING THE PILOT". SUCH "PROVING" WAS NOT REQUIRED WHEN THE UNITS WERE INSTALLED (ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO). HE WAS UNAW ARE OF THIS. ALSO, THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIGHTING THE UNITS (PRINTED ON A PANEL D OOR) DID NOT EXACTLY FIT THEM. WITH THE MANUAL SELECTOR ON "PILOT", HE VAINLY AT TEMPTED TO LIGHT THE PILOT (WHICH WAS NEITHER NECESSARY NOR POSSIBLE WITH THE TH ERMOSTAT OFF). LEAVING IT ON "PILOT" (A MISTAKE) HE WENT INTO THE STORE AND TURN
Victim
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 27 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 534
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- 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.