104,543Records 70,659Employers 84,666Hospitalizations 27,563Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-09-30
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14415301

HEAD,UNCONSCIOUSNESS,INHALATION,FAINTED,NITROUS OXIDE

Event
HEAD,UNCONSCIOUSNESS,INHALATION,FAINTED,NITROUS OXIDE
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14415301
Report ID
728500

Event description

EMPLOYEES EXPOSED THEMSELVES TO NITROUS OXIDE

Investigation abstract

ON JULY 11, 1985, AT APPROXIMATELY 1 AM, THE SHIFT SUPERVISOR OF THE RESTAURANT D DID NOT REALIZE WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN WHEN THEY PASSED OUT. RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT HAS SINCE REMOVED ALL NITROUS OXIDE. RETURNED FROM MAKING A BANK DEPOSIT NEXT DOOR. SHE HAD BEEN GONE ABOUT 3 MINUTES . SHE FOUND EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 ON THE FLOOR WITH GARBAGE BAGS ON THEIR HEADS. E MPLOYEE #1 WAS NOT MOVING AT ALL AND EMPLOYEE #2 WAS BARELY MOVING. THE SHIFT SU PERVISOR PULLED THE BAGS OFF AND IMMEDIATELY CALLED FOR THE POLICE AND MEDICAL A SSISTANCE. THEY ARRIVED SOON THEREAFTER. EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 APPARENTLY FILLED T HE BAGS WITH NITROUS OXIDE FROM THE SUPPLY ROOM AND PLACED THEM OVER THEIR HEADS JUST A FEW FEET OUTSIDE THE ROOM. EMPLOYEE #1 HIT HIS HEAD ON THE EDGE OF A MET AL CART WHEN HE PASSED OUT. THE EMPLOYEES WERE APPARENTLY ENJOYING THE "HIGH" AN

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Fatality Age 17 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    4
    Event type
    8
    Source
    13
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    1953
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Hospitalized Age 17 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    4
    Event type
    8
    Source
    13
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    1953
    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.