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 #14437735

BURN,VENTILATION,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,FIRE,PAINT,EXPLOSION,PAINTER

Event
BURN,VENTILATION,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,FIRE,PAINT,EXPLOSION,PAINTER
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14437735
Report ID
1032500

Event description

2 EMPLOYEES KILLED, ONE INJURED WHEN PAINT FUMES EXPLODED

Investigation abstract

ON MAY 16, 1989, EMPLOYEE #1 WAS SPRAY PAINTING A SEALED-OFF ROOM IN A HOUSE. TH ILURE TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE VENTILATION. E WINDOWS AND DOORS WERE ALL CLOSED AND THE ROOM WAS SEPARATED FROM THE REST OF THE HOUSE BY A VISQUEEN SHEET. EMPLOYEES #2 AND #3 WERE WORKING IN AN ADJACENT R OOM. A SPARK (SOURCE UNKNOWN) IGNITED THE PAINT FUMES, WHICH HAD SPREAD THROUGHO UT THE EAST END OF THE HOUSE. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS SEVERELY BURNED AND DIED AT THE SC ENE. THE TWO OTHER EMPLOYEES WERE SERIOUSLY BURNED AND TRANSPORTED TO A BURN CEN TER. EMPLOYEE #2 DIED AT THE BURN CENTER. EMPLOYEE #3 SURVIVED AND IS BEING TREA TMENT FOR THE BURNS HE SUSTAINED. THE COMPANY WAS ISSUED CITATIONS FOR THE LACK OF A HAZARD COMMUNICATION PROGRAM, FAILURE TO ELIMINATE IGNITION SOURCES, AND FA

Victims (3)

  1. #1 Fatality Age 26 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    10
    Source
    44
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    6
    Environmental factor
    7
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Fatality Age 24 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    10
    Source
    44
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    17
    Environmental factor
    7
    Task assigned
    1
  3. #3 Hospitalized Age 27 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    10
    Source
    44
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    17
    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.