105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14340459

BURN,AGRICULTURE,WORK RULES,FIRE,WELDING,MECH MAT HANDLING,COTTON

Event
BURN,AGRICULTURE,WORK RULES,FIRE,WELDING,MECH MAT HANDLING,COTTON
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14340459
Report ID
418400

Event description

COTTON IGNITED INSIDE FARM MACHINE; EMPLOYEES BURNED

Investigation abstract

ON SEPTEMBER 23, 1987, AT APPROXIMATELY 3:30 PM, EMPLOYEE #1 AND EMPLOYEE #2 CLI MBED INTO A COTTON MODULE BUILDER WHILE ANOTHER WORKER WAS WELDING ON THE OUTSID E OF THE MACHINE. THE MACHINE WAS 6 FEET, 6 INCHES WIDE BY 30 FEET LONG BY 9 FEE T HIGH, AND OPEN AT THE TOP. THEIR JOB WAS TO MOVE RAW COTTON AWAY FROM THE AREA TO BE WELDED. THE COTTON IGNITED, CAUSING A FIRE WHICH BURNED EMPLOYEE #1 OVER 77% OF HIS BODY AND BURNED EMPLOYEE #2 OVER 65% OF HIS BODY. EMPLOYEE #1 DIED 4 DAYS LATER. EMPLOYEE #2 WAS HOSPITALIZED, BUT SURVIVED.

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Fatality Age 45 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    2
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    18
    Environmental factor
    10
    Hazardous substance
    8880
    Task assigned
    2
  2. #2 Hospitalized Age 34 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    2
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    18
    Environmental factor
    10
    Hazardous substance
    8880
    Task assigned
    2

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.