OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14335459
BURN,HIGH WIND,SAWDUST,FIRE
Event description
EMPLOYEE BURNED TO DEATH WHEN HIS CLOTHES CAUGHT FIRE
Investigation abstract
ON MARCH 18, 1978, EMPLOYEE #1 WENT OUTSIDE TO LIGHT A SAWDUST BURNER WITH A BOR EXPLODED. THE EMPLOYEE DIED AS A RESULT OF HIS BURNS. ROWED DISPOSABLE BUTANE CIGARETTE LIGHTER. THE WIND WAS HIGH (APPROXIMATELY 30-4 0 MPH) THAT DAY. THE EMPLOYEE WENT INSIDE THE BURNER TO LIGHT THE SAWDUST, THEN CAME OUT AND CLOSED THE DOOR BEHIND HIM. HE THEN STARTED TO RUN. HE RAN AROUND T HE YARD, ON FIRE, UNTIL HE FOUND A PUDDLE OF RAIN WATER. HE THEN BEGAN TO ROLL I N THE WATER, TRYING TO PUT OUT THE FIRE. IT IS CONJECTURED THAT THE WOOD DUST IN SIDE THE BURNER WAS HEAVILY SUSPENDED IN AIR (DUE TO THE HIGH WINDS) AND EXPLODE D IN A FLASH FIRE WHEN THE EMPLOYEE LIT THE DISPOSABLE BUTANE CIGARETTE LIGHTER. ALTERNATIVELY, IT IS CONJECTURED THAT THE DISPOSABLE CIGARETTE LIGHTER MAY HAVE
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 22 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 11
- 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.