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 #14503387

HEAD,HYDROGEN,MAINTENANCE,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,WORK RULES,STRUCK AGAINST,GAS,TORCH,EXPLOSION,TANK

Event
HEAD,HYDROGEN,MAINTENANCE,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,WORK RULES,STRUCK AGAINST,GAS,TORCH,EXPLOSION,TANK
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14503387
Report ID
729700

Event description

One killed, one injured in brine surge tank explosion

Investigation abstract

Employee #2 was using a torch to cut a U-bolt on the bypass piping next to a bri ne surge tank that potentially contained hydrogen gas in a vapor space in the up per portion of the tank. His job was to remove and replace the brine line that w as connected to the top of the tank. Just before the accident, Employee #1 was o n top of the tank unbolting the brine line. He was launched into the air by an e xplosion and struck against some piping or other structure, He was killed. Emplo yee #2 was struck by piping and knocked backward. His head struck a curb and he was injured.

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Fatality Age 29 M

    Nature of injury
    3
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    6
    Source
    5
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    13
    Hazardous substance
    1410
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Hospitalized Age 33 M

    Nature of injury
    3
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    1
    Source
    5
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    13
    Hazardous substance
    1410
    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.