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 #14490759

TANK TRUCK,VENTILATION,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,WORK RULES,CLEANING,LIGHTING FIXTURE,EXPLOSION,WATER

Event
TANK TRUCK,VENTILATION,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,WORK RULES,CLEANING,LIGHTING FIXTURE,EXPLOSION,WATER
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14490759
Report ID
215800

Event description

Employee killed in tank truck explosion

Investigation abstract

Employee #1 was attempting to clean sludge from a tank truck that had contained explosion. flammable materials, such as gasoline or oil. Employee #1 was sitting on top of the truck with his feet dangling inside one of the hatch openings. He had a trou ble light in the vicinity of the hatch opening and the nozzle end of a water pre ssure washer unit to clean the inside of the tank. When Employee #1 pulled the t rigger of the nozzle, an explosion occurred that blew him through the roof of th e building. Employee #1 was killed. Apparently, the tanker had not been ventilat ed to remove the flammable vapors, which, in combination with the water from the nozzle hitting the hot bulb of a non-explosion-proof trouble light, caused the

Victim

  1. #1 Fatality Age 26 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    14
    Source
    35
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    6
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    1340
    Task assigned
    1

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