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 #14398267

CONFINED SPACE,WORK RULES,SHIP,TOXIC FUMES,OVEREXPOSURE,CARBON MONOXIDE,PRESSURE RELEASE

Event
CONFINED SPACE,WORK RULES,SHIP,TOXIC FUMES,OVEREXPOSURE,CARBON MONOXIDE,PRESSURE RELEASE
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14398267
Report ID
626600

Event description

Employees exposed to carbon monoxide

Investigation abstract

A recently heat treated pressure vessel was being prepared for hydrotesting. The had "gone down." This precipitated a series of rescue attempts that eventually r esulted in one of the men being rescued and eleven or twelve other would-be resc uers being exposed to the unknown substance in the vessel. The first employee to pass out was eventually rescued by the fire department. It was later determined that carbon monoxide was in the vessel, the source being scrap wood that had be en left in there during fabrication. The wood had been turned to charcoal in an oxygen-deficient condition and therefore produced carbon monoxide as a by-produc t of the heat-treating process. vessel was the property of Western Fabricating, which was paying for the heat t reating and testing. The vessel was heated up to 1,150 degrees F for a 7-hour pe riod, then slowly cooled. At approximately 5:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 16, 1 989, the vessel was removed from the furnace and set on the floor. At approximat ely 11:55 a.m., the foreman entered the vessel through the end man-way to measur e the vessel for the vent pipe needed to conduct hydrostatic pressure tests. At approximately 2:00 p.m. two employees were sent inside the vessel to install the vent pipe. Within 15 to 20 minutes, the watchers indicated that both employees

Victims (14)

  1. #1 Non-hospitalized injury Age 45 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    1

  2. #10 Hospitalized Age 42 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    2

  3. #11 Non-hospitalized injury Age 37 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    2

  4. #12 Non-hospitalized injury Age 38 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    2

  5. #13 Hospitalized Age 36 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    2

  6. #14 Hospitalized Age 49 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    2

  7. #2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 30 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    2

  8. #3 Non-hospitalized injury Age 50 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    2

  9. #4 Non-hospitalized injury Age 55 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    2

  10. #5 Hospitalized Age 60 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    2

  11. #6 Non-hospitalized injury Age 62 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    2

  12. #7 Non-hospitalized injury Age 39 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    2

  13. #8 Hospitalized Age 40 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    1

  14. #9 Non-hospitalized injury Age 41 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    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.

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