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 #14414528

BURN,CLEANING,TANK,HIGH TEMPERATURE,HOT WATER

Event
BURN,CLEANING,TANK,HIGH TEMPERATURE,HOT WATER
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14414528
Report ID
728900

Event description

BURNED BY BOILING HOT WATER CLEANING SOLUTION

Investigation abstract

EMPLOYEE #1 WAS CLEANING MEAT INSERT PANS IN A 1,000 GALLON CAPACITY TANK. THE T ANK WAS 54 INCHES DEEP, 70 INCHES LONG AND 51 INCHES WIDE. THE EMPLOYEE PLACED A STACK OF MEAT INSERT PANS IN THE TANK AND BEGAN TO HEAT A WATER SOLUTION (1000 GALLONS OF WATER AND FIVE GALLONS CAUSTIC SODA-SOAP) TO THE BOILING POINT. WHILE EMPLOYEE #1'S ATTENTION WAS FOCUSED ON THE TASK OF TURNING OFF THE STEAM VALVE IN FRONT OF THE TANK, THE WATER SOLUTION BOILED OVER ONTO HIM. HE WAS BADLY BURN ED OVER 30% OF HIS BODY AND DIED SEVEN DAYS LATER.

Victim

  1. #1 Fatality Age 47 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    14
    Source
    41
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    20
    Environmental factor
    7
    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.