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 #14412753

BLASTING,LOSS OF BLOOD,SLIP,CONSTRUCTION,LACERATION,ARTERY,LOST CONTROL,REFINERY

Event
BLASTING,LOSS OF BLOOD,SLIP,CONSTRUCTION,LACERATION,ARTERY,LOST CONTROL,REFINERY
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14412753
Report ID
626600

Event description

EMPLOYEE CUT FEMORAL ARTERY WHILE HYDROBLASTING, DIED

Investigation abstract

EMPLOYEE #1 STARTED HYDROBLASTING COKE FROM THE INSIDE OF A TOWER IN A REFINERY. E PUMPS. HE HAD FULL PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AND WAS USING A SHORT BARRELLED SHOTG UN. A MANWAY HAD BEEN CREATED BY REMOVING SOME SHELVES IN THE TOWER. THE 2 FOOT BY 3 FOOT OPENING WAS ABOUT 10 FEET DEEP. THE EMPLOYEE STARTED NEAR THE TOP OF T HE TOWER SO THAT HIS HEAD AND SHOULDERS WERE OUT THE HOLE. HE WAS STANDING, STRA DDLING THE HOLE. SOMETIME DURING THE FIRST FEW MOMENTS, HE CUT AN ARTERY IN HIS THIGH, PROBABLY BECAUSE HE SLIPPED AND LOST CONTROL OF THE GUN. THE GUN OPERATED AT 4,500 PSI PRESSURE. THE EMPLOYEE DIED WITHIN MINUTES. ANOTHER EMPLOYEE WAS A CTING AS "HOLE WATCH", WHILE YET ANOTHER EMPLOYEE WAS ON THE GROUND OPERATING TH

Victim

  1. #1 Fatality Age 24 M

    Nature of injury
    7
    Part of body
    23
    Event type
    1
    Source
    41
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    10
    Environmental factor
    13
    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.