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 #14516298

BURN,BLOOD CLOT,RUPTURE,STEAM,INATTENTION,LEG

Event
BURN,BLOOD CLOT,RUPTURE,STEAM,INATTENTION,LEG
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14516298
Report ID
420600

Event description

EMPLOYEE SUFFERED STEAM BURNS ON LEG; LATER DIED

Investigation abstract

EMPLOYEE #1 HAD BEEN A LINE OPERATOR FOR THE PASTUERIZATION UNITS AT KRAFT INC, EES SHOT OUT OF THE PROBE AND STRUCK HER ON THE FRONT OF THE RIGHT LEG AND INSID E OF THE LEFT LEG. THE COMPANY RESPONSE TEAM TREATED HER BY APPLYING COOL WATER TO THE BURNS, THEN TAKING HER TO THE HOSPITAL. SHE DIED IN THE HOSPITAL ON JANUA RY 2, 1987. THE PRELIMINARY DIAGNOSIS OF THE CAUSE OF DEATH WAS LISTED AS A BLOO D CLOT. LAKELAND FLORIDA, FOR SIX YEARS. SHE HAD BEEN EMPLOYED AT KRAFT FOR 9 YEARS. SHE HAD BEEN TRAINED BY A QUALIFIED LINE OPERATOR AND HAD OPERATED INDEPENDENTLY FO R THE PAST SIX YEARS. ON DECEMBER 1, 1986 SHE HAD BEEN PERFORMING HER NORMAL DUT IES (CLEANING AND CHECKING THE UNITS FOR LEAKS AND STERILIZATION, AND INSURING T HAT THE PROBES DO NOT LEAK AND ARE FASTENED PROPERLY). WHEN THESE JOBS WERE FINI SHED EMPLOYEE #1 RAN STEAM THROUGH THE UNITS. SHE THEN TRIED TO MOVE A 6 FOOT HI GH, 30 INCH WIDE STEEL LADDER. THE AISLE BETWEEN PROBES IS 45 INCHES WIDE, BUT S HE STRUCK ONE OF THE PROBES BY MISTAKE AND BROKE IT OFF. STEAM AT ABOUT 200 DEGR

Victim

  1. #1 Fatality Age 36 F

    Nature of injury
    22
    Part of body
    16
    Event type
    14
    Source
    43
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    18
    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.