OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14506000
OXYGEN DEFICIENCY,ASPHYXIATED,CONFINED SPACE,NITROGEN,PURGING
Event description
ASPHYXIATED INSIDE A TEST CHAMBER
Investigation abstract
ON MARCH 31, 1984, BETWEEN 9:45 AM AND 10:15 AM, EMPLOYEE #1 ENTERED A THERMOTRO N REFRIGERATION UNIT (7'X7'X7'10") WHICH WAS BEING USED AS AN ENVIRONMENTAL TEST CHAMBER. THE CHAMBER HAD BEEN FILLED WITH NITROGEN FOR COOLING PURPOSES. EMPLOY ER #1 ENTERED THE CHAMBER TO INSTALL A VIDEO MONITOR, WHICH NEEDED TO BE TESTED. THE CHAMBER WAS NEITHER PURGED WITH OXYGEN PRIOR TO ENTRANCE NOR TESTED FOR OXY GEN DEFICIENCY. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS FOUND IN THE CHAMBER BY A CO-WORKER AT APPROXIMA TELY 10:20 AM. THE CO-WORKER PULLED EMPLOYEE #1 FORM THE CHAMBER AND BEGAN ADMIN ISTERING FIRST AID. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS TRANSPORTED TO BOULDER COMMUNITY HOSPITAL BY AMBULANCE AND WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD AT 11:17 AM.
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 27 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 18
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1900
- 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.