OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14428973
COLORADO APPLIED RESEARCH, INC.
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO·
Event description
Employee burned by experimental propellant
Investigation abstract
At approximately 11:30 a.m. on April 18, 1988, a research propellant mixture was overheated during a heating and combining procedure, causing it to harden and c rust over. The rejected 7 to 8 kg batch of propellant was placed outside the res earch trailer on a stainless steel table. After a short interval, the propellant started to smoke and emit a white powder. Employee #1 walked toward the propell ant to investigate. When he was within 15 feet of the material, he raised his fa ce shield to get a better look. At that time, the heat buildup within the cruste d-over propellant batch deflagrated. Employee #1 sustained 1st-and 2nd-degree bu rns to his face and right hand.
Victim
-
#1 Non-hospitalized injury Age 52 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 9
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 23
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 10
- 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.