OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14451363
TOP HAT MAINTENANCE
HENDERSON, NV·
Event description
EMPLOYEE DIED WHEN EXPOSED TO TOXIC CHEMICAL VAPORS
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1, A JANITOR, WAS CLEANING OFFICES AND REST ROOMS. HE HAD ONE MORE RES IRED TO ENTER THE TANK OR THE AREA AROUND THE TANK DURING THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS REGULAR DUTIES. DRAGER PUMP READINGS TAKEN IN THE DEGREASER SHOWED LEVELS OF 1. 1.1 TRICHLORETHANE TO BE 100 TO 600 P.P.M. TROOM TO CLEAN IN THE PLANT AREA. HE DID NOT APPEAR AT BREAKTIME SO HIS EMPLOYER AND THE SECURITY OFFICER ON DUTY BEGAN BEGAN LOOKING FOR HIM. HE WAS FOUND LYIN G IN THE BOTTOM OF A DEGREASING TANK THAT HAD BEEN DRAINED OF THE CHEMICAL 1.1.1 TRICHLORETHANE, ABOUT A WEEK BEFORE THE ACCIDENT. HE WAS OVERCOME BY THE RESIDU AL VAPORS AND DIED. THE DEGREASING TANK WAS APPROXIMATELY 5 FEET WIDE, 8 FEET LO NG, AND 6 FEET DEEP. IT IS NOT KNOWN HOW EMPLOYEE #1 ENTERED THE DEGREASER. IT I S UNLIKELY THAT HE FELL INTO THE TANK BECAUSE OF THE PHYSICAL MAKEUP OF THE TANK AND AREA. HE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE INTENTIONALLY ENTERED THE TANK. HE WAS NOT REQU
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 17 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 453
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- 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.