OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14377592
OXYGEN DEFICIENCY,RESPIRATORY,TANK TRUCK,CONFINED SPACE,WORK RULES,INHALATION,NITROGEN,NITRIC ACID,NITROUS OXIDE,SULFURIC ACID
Event description
2 EMPLOYEES ENTER TANK WITH O2 DEFICIENT AIR; 1 DIED
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 ENTERED A TANKER TRAILER, WHICH CONTAINED A RESIDUE OF SULFURIC AND EAKDOWN OF NITRIC ACID AND DETECTED AT HIGH LEVELS). NITRIC ACIDS, TO REPLACE A SAFETY VALVE. NE WAS NOT AWARE THAT COMPRESSED NITROG EN HAD BEEN USED IN THE UNLOADING PROCESS. HE WAS EQUIPPED WITH PROTECTIVE CLOTH ING AND A FULL FACE ORGANIC VAPOR RESPIRATOR. WHEN EMPLOYEE #1 COLLAPSED UPON EN TERING, EMPLOYEE #2 WENT IN AFTER HIM AND ALSO COLLAPSED. EMPLOYEE #2 WAS QUICKL Y PULLED OUT, BUT EMPLOYEE #1 COULD NOT BE REACHED FROM THE OUTSIDE. HE WAS NOT PULLED OUT FOR 30 MINUTES. THE RESPIRATORS WERE NOT ADEQUATE FOR AN OXYGEN DEFIC IENT ATMOSPHERE. AIR TESTING AND VENTING WERE NOT DONE. PROBABLE CAUSES OF DEATH ARE AN OXYGEN DEFICIENCY OR THE PRESENCE OF NITROGEN DIOXIDE (CREATED BY THE BR
Victims (3)
-
#1 Fatality Age 32 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1900
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 30 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1900
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#981 Degree 0 Age 0
- Nature of injury
- 0
- Part of body
- 0
- Event type
- 0
- Source
- 0
- Occupation code
- 0
- Human factor
- 0
- Environmental factor
- 0
- Task assigned
- 0
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.