OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14498158
ARCHEM CO.
HOUSTON, TX·
Event description
ONE EMPLOYEE KILLED, 2 INJURED WHEN REACTOR EXPLODED
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 AND OTHER EMPLOYEE(S) HAD CHARGED REACTOR "B", A 2000 GALLON 304 STA INLESS STEEL PRESSURE VESSEL, WITH METHANOL, CAUSTIC, AND ORTHO-NITROCHLOROBENZE NE. THE EMPLOYEES WERE PRESSURIZING THE REACTOR WITH NITROGEN WHEN A DETONATION OCCURRED. APPROXIMATELY 3 TO 4 MINUTES AFTER THE REACTOR HAD BEEN CHARGED WITH A LL THE RAW MATERIALS THE PRESSURE RELIEF SYSTEM RELEASED WITH EXPLOSIVE FORCE. E MPLOYEE #1 WAS KILLED, WHILE EMPLOYEES #2 & 3 WERE HOSPITALIZED WITH SERIOUS INJ URIES.
Victims (3)
-
#1 Fatality Age 27 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 6
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 4
- Environmental factor
- 15
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 27 M
- Nature of injury
- 12
- Part of body
- 13
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 8
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 4
- Environmental factor
- 15
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#3 Hospitalized Age 21 M
- Nature of injury
- 4
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 4
- Environmental factor
- 15
- 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.