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 #14486161

OXYGEN DEFICIENCY,ASPHYXIATED,CONFINED SPACE,PPE,WORK RULES,INHALATION,SHIP,CARBON DIOXIDE,ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE,INATTENTION

Event
OXYGEN DEFICIENCY,ASPHYXIATED,CONFINED SPACE,PPE,WORK RULES,INHALATION,SHIP,CARBON DIOXIDE,ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE,INATTENTION
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14486161
Report ID
215600

Event description

Employee dies of asphyxia in shipboard confined space

Investigation abstract

Employee #1 and a coworker were assigned to prepare the auxiliary diesel fire pu mp in a ship's sixth level chambers for inspection. The 15-ft by 16-ft by 15-ft chamber contained only the pump, the drive, and a fire suppression system consis ting of three carbon dioxide cylinders. The only exit from this chamber was a st eel ladder through a 30-in. by 30-in. vertical shaft. The carbon dioxide cylinde rs had been accidentally discharged in the chamber, effectively removing all oxy gen from the atmosphere. Upon entering the area, Employee #1 was overcome; he di ed of asphyxia. The coworker escaped without injury.

Victim

  1. #1 Fatality Age 35 M

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0530
    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.