OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14477863
RESPIRATORY,VENTILATION,HEADACHE,INHALATION,INDUSTRIAL TRUCK,EXHAUST FUMES,CARBOXYHEMOGLOBIN,CARBON MONOXIDE
Event description
EMPLOYEES EXPOSED TO CARBON MONOXIDE FROM FORKLIFT EXHAUST
Investigation abstract
EIGHT EMPLOYEES WERE EXPOSED TO CARBON MONOXIDE FROM A PROPANE FUELED FORKLIFT W HICH HAD BEEN OPERATING EIGHT HOURS IN A BUILDING OF APPROXIMATELY 160,000 CUBIC FOOT CAPACITY. THE FORKLIFT, WHICH WAS EMITTING AN EXHAUST COMPRISED OF 2% CARB ON MONOXIDE, WAS BEING USED AS A "FOURTH MAN" TO HELP IN BENDING 3 FOOT BY 8 FOO T FLAT SECTIONS OF 5/16 INCH STEEL SLABS INTO CONCAVE SECTIONS. USING TWO EMPLOY EE'S CARBOXYHEMOGLOBIN LEVELS OBTAINED AT THE HOSPITAL (94-170 MINUTES AFTER THE END OF THE SHIFT), AND THE COBURN, ET AL. EQUATION, AIRBORNE CONCENTRATIONS OF CARBON MONOXIDE WERE ESTIMATED TO BE BETWEEN 200 AND 600 PARTS PER MILLION OVER AN EIGHT HOUR PERIOD.
Victims (3)
-
#1 Fatality Age 66 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0560
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 42 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0560
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#3 Non-hospitalized injury Age 49 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0560
- 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.