OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14299390
PPE,WORK RULES,CHEMICAL REACTION,NITRIC ACID,CHEMICAL VAPOR,TOXIC FUMES,RESPIRATOR
Event description
Employees exposed to byproducts of nitric acid reaction
Investigation abstract
On February 25, 1986, an employee placed some brass parts into a container of 67 percent nitric acid. A brownish gas cloud formed and the entire building was ev acuated. Two employees wearing 37 organic vapor half face respirators entered th e building to neutralize the reaction. The respirators used were not the proper type for protection against the byproducts of nitric acid. In addition, the empl oyer did not have a respiratory protection program. Employees #1 through #6 (all those who were in the area of the reaction) were sent to the hospital and relea sed after examination.
Victims (6)
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 28 F
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 73
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 9
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 31 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 633
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 9
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#3 Hospitalized Age 33 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 9
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#4 Hospitalized Age 38 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 633
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 9
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#5 Hospitalized Age 45 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 9
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#6 Hospitalized Age 54 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 9
- 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.