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 #14402705

LEAK,EXPLOSION,BURN,FLAMMABLE LIQUID,FIRE,WORK RULES,CHEMICAL BURN,PROPANE,FRACTURE,REFINERY

Event
LEAK,EXPLOSION,BURN,FLAMMABLE LIQUID,FIRE,WORK RULES,CHEMICAL BURN,PROPANE,FRACTURE,REFINERY
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14402705
Report ID
626000

Event description

Thirteen injured in refinery explosion and fire

Investigation abstract

At approximately 1:30 p.m. on May 20, 1989, Employee #1 was opening a bleeder va , they suffered sprains, fractures, and bruises from jumping off the scaffold an d running from the area. Employee #1 was under the impression that the line, whi ch was at a pressure of 275 psi, was inactive and that it was ready to be bled d own. In all, 13 employees were injured, three of them seriously enough to requir e hospitalization. lve when propane gas was released from the line. Employees #2 and #4 were insula ting a feed drum from a scaffold above the bleeder valve; and, as they attempted to evacuate the area, an explosion and flash fire occurred. Employees #1, #2, a nd #4 suffered burns and were hospitalized. Employees #5 through #8, members of an emergency response fire fighting company, sustained chemical burns to their l ower limbs and hands from an unknown substance in the water on the ground after it seeped into their personal protective equipment. Employees #9 through #13 had been working from a scaffold 19 ft above the ground. In their efforts to escape

Victims (12)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 46 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    2
    Source
    35
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    10
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #10 Non-hospitalized injury Age 42 M

    Nature of injury
    20
    Part of body
    11
    Event type
    5
    Source
    42
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    7
    Environmental factor
    6
    Task assigned
    1
  3. #11 Non-hospitalized injury Age 20 M

    Nature of injury
    12
    Part of body
    11
    Event type
    5
    Source
    42
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    7
    Environmental factor
    6
    Task assigned
    1
  4. #12 Non-hospitalized injury Age 34 M

    Nature of injury
    3
    Part of body
    24
    Event type
    5
    Source
    42
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    7
    Environmental factor
    6
    Task assigned
    1
  5. #13 Non-hospitalized injury Age 58 M

    Nature of injury
    20
    Part of body
    16
    Event type
    5
    Source
    42
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    7
    Environmental factor
    6
    Task assigned
    1
  6. #2 Hospitalized Age 46 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    2
    Source
    35
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    14
    Environmental factor
    10
    Task assigned
    1
  7. #4 Hospitalized Age 32 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    2
    Source
    35
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    14
    Environmental factor
    10
    Task assigned
    1
  8. #5 Non-hospitalized injury Age 45 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    18
    Event type
    10
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    10
    Environmental factor
    9
    Task assigned
    1
  9. #6 Non-hospitalized injury Age 35 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    18
    Event type
    10
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    10
    Environmental factor
    9
    Task assigned
    1
  10. #7 Non-hospitalized injury Age 26 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    18
    Event type
    10
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    10
    Environmental factor
    9
    Task assigned
    1
  11. #8 Non-hospitalized injury Age 22 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    18
    Event type
    10
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    10
    Environmental factor
    9
    Task assigned
    1
  12. #9 Non-hospitalized injury Age 36 M

    Nature of injury
    3
    Part of body
    11
    Event type
    5
    Source
    42
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    7
    Environmental factor
    6
    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.