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 #14489785

EYE,LEAK,THROAT,WORK RULES,INHALATION,NOSE,GAS,CHLORINE,CHEMICAL VAPOR,TOXIC FUMES

Event
EYE,LEAK,THROAT,WORK RULES,INHALATION,NOSE,GAS,CHLORINE,CHEMICAL VAPOR,TOXIC FUMES
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14489785
Report ID
215800

Event description

Seven employees hospitalized after exposure to chlorine gas

Investigation abstract

At approximately 8:30 p.m. on June 30, 1984, the shut-off valve on a 1-ton chlor ine storage tank developed a leak, filling the storage building with chlorine ga s. Employees wearing SCBA safely repaired the leak. Employees #1 through #7 were watching the repair process approximately 60 ft downwind of the building. Resid ual gas still in the storage building blew over to these employees, who had remo ved their SCBA. Injuries caused by exposure to the chlorine gas were limited to eye, nose, and throat irritation. Employees #1 through #7 were transported to a local hospital for first aid and observation.

Victims (7)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 30 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    1
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    766
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    2
  2. #2 Hospitalized Age 35 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    1
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    766
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    2
  3. #3 Hospitalized Age 28 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    1
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    766
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    2
  4. #4 Hospitalized Age 32 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    1
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    766
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    2
  5. #5 Hospitalized Age 45 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    1
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    766
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    2
  6. #6 Hospitalized Age 20 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    1
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    766
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    2
  7. #7 Hospitalized Age 30 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    31
    Event type
    1
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    766
    Human factor
    16
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    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.