OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14340186
YAZOO VALLEY-MINTER CITY OIL MILL, INC.
GREENWOOD, MS·
Event description
EMPLOYEES BURNED BY HEXANE VAPOR FIRE
Investigation abstract
AN EMERGENCY BREAKDOWN AT THE COTTONSEED OIL SOLVENT EXTRACTOR MADE THE REMOVAL E FAN'S STARTER AND SWITCH. EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 RECEIVED FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD DEGREE BURNS. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED EVIDENCE OF ARCING AMONG CONDUCTORS INS IDE A NON-EXPLOSION PROOF JUNCTION BOX, AND THE FAN'S STARTER ENCLOSURE COVER WA S MISSING SOME OF ITS BOLTS. OF LIQUID HEXANE AND HEXANE VAPORS FROM THE EXTRACTOR AND EXTRACTOR BUILDING NEC ESSARY. SOME LIQUID HEXANE REMAINED IN THE PUMPING LINES BETWEEN THE EXTRACTOR S UMPS AND PUMPS THREE HOURS AFTER THE BREAKDOWN. THREADED DRAIN CAPS IN THE PUMPI NG LINES HAD BEEN PREMATURELY REMOVED, ALLOWING HEXANE TO DRIP ONTO THE FIRST FL OOR CONCRETE SURFACE. EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 WERE ATTEMPTING TO CONNECT A FLEXIBLE METAL PIPE TO THE SIDE OF AN EXTRACTOR FROM THE INLET PORT OF A PORTABLE ELECTRI C PURGE FAN. THE FAN WAS TO BE USED TO DRAW HEXANE VAPORS OUT OF THE EXTRACTOR, SO THAT EMPLOYEES COULD ENTER THE AREA. HEXANE VAPORS WERE IGNITED JUST ABOVE TH
Victims (2)
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 49 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 11
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1380
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 30 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 11
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1380
- 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.