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 #14456099

BURN,TANK TRUCK,OPEN FLAME,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,CRUDE OIL,EXPLOSION,INATTENTION

Event
BURN,TANK TRUCK,OPEN FLAME,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,CRUDE OIL,EXPLOSION,INATTENTION
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14456099
Report ID
854910

Event description

CRUDE OIL VAPOR EXPLOSION

Investigation abstract

EMPLOYEE #1 WAS UNLOADING ALTAMONT CRUDE OIL FROM A TANK TRUCK. HE WAS LOCATED I NSIDE A REFINERY. IT WAS AT NIGHT. HE ATTEMPTED TO CHECK THE LEVEL OF CRUDE OIL LEFT IN THE TANKER COMPARTMENT BY INSERTING A DIPSTICK THROUGH THE OPEN TANKER D OME. HE WAS UNABLE TO MAKE A READING BECAUSE THERE WAS NO OPERATIONAL LIGHT AT T HE UNLOADING DOCK THAT NIGHT. WITHOUT THINKING, HE USED HIS BUTANE CIGARETTE LIG HTER TO LIGHT THE AREA NEAR THE DIPSTICK. THE CRUDE OIL VAPORS IGNITED, CAUSING AN EXPLOSION WHICH BURNED EMPLOYEE #1 AND BLEW HIM OFF THE TOP OF THE TANKER.

Victim

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 27 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    13
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    804
    Human factor
    1
    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.