OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14454730
U. S. TANNING
SERGEANT BLUFF, IA·
Event description
Two employees die, others exposed to chemical in manhole
Investigation abstract
At approximately 11:45 p.m. on January 31, 1989, Employees #1 and #2 were enteri usness, he returned to the office for help. Employees #3, #4, #5, #6, and #7 ret urned to the site. Employee #7 briefly entered the manhole without respiratory p rotection and left 10 to 15 seconds later after feeling faint. Employee #6 donne d SCBA and entered the manhole to attempt to rescue Employee #2. Employee #5, wh o climbed halfway down to assist Employee #6 in the rescue attempt, was not wear ing a respirator and briefly lost consciousness. He was pulled from the manhole by Employees #4 and #7. Employee #6 abandoned the rescue attempt after failing t o lift Employee #2 out of the confined space. The body of Employee #1 was discov ered. Rescue personnel arrived shortly thereafter and transported the affected e mployees to the hospital. Employees #1 and #2 died. Employees #3 through #7 were ng an effluent manhole to perform repairs on a leaking overflow standpipe. When hospitalized. Employee #3 went out to check on the employees at the job site, he saw Employee #2 at the bottom of the effluent manhole, slumped over and unresponsive. Employe e #3 held his breath and entered the manhole to attempt a rescue. Prior to enter ing the manhole, Employee #3 had detected the presence of hydrogen sulfide but d id not smell it after entering the manhole. Employee #3 failed to rescue Employe e #2 and felt tightness of the chest, so he climbed out. After exiting the manho le, Employee #3 lost consciousness for 5 to 10 minutes; when he regained conscio
Victims (7)
-
#1 Fatality Age 29 M
- Nature of injury
- 17
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1480
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#2 Fatality Age 43 M
- Nature of injury
- 17
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1480
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#3 Hospitalized Age 43 M
- Nature of injury
- 17
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1480
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#4 Hospitalized Age 37 M
- Nature of injury
- 17
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1480
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#5 Hospitalized Age 26 M
- Nature of injury
- 17
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1480
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#6 Hospitalized Age 30 M
- Nature of injury
- 17
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1480
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#7 Hospitalized Age 26 M
- Nature of injury
- 17
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1480
- 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.