OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14521454
BURN,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,FIRE,INHALATION,EXPLOSION,HEAT EXCHANGER,CHEMICAL VAPOR,CARBON DISULFIDE,SMOKE INHALATION
Event description
Six employees injured in fire and explosion
Investigation abstract
On February 17, 1987, a fire and explosion occurred at a process machine where v s at the extrusion end of machine #5, and was injured by foreign objects in his eyes. Employee #5 was at the dry end between machines #8 and #9, and complained of throat irritation. Employee #6 was by the old "B" tanks of machine #9, and su ffered from smoke inhalation. Employees #1, #2, and #6 were hospitalized. A semi -continuous monitoring system was being installed to detect carbon disulfide, hy drogen sulfide, and ammonia, but it was not yet operational. There were gaps in the insulation on the heat exchanger and the surface temperature of the exchange r was just slightly below 140 degrees Fahrenheit. iscose casings are manufactured. A buildup of carbon disulfide occurred at tank #3 of process machine #9 and the vapors were probably ignited by a heat exchange r at that tank. The fire was sucked into the ventilation system and spread to ot her parts of the process area. Employees #1 through #6 were all in the process a rea. Employee #1 was at the wet end of machines #1 and #2, and suffered from smo ke inhalation. Employee #2 was at the extrusion end between machines #9 and #10, and sustained second-degree burns on his hands and arms. Employee #3 was at tan k #7 between machines #9 and #10, and suffered burns on his back. Employee #4 wa
Victims (6)
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 32 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 4
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0540
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 36 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 4
- Environmental factor
- 10
- Hazardous substance
- 0540
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#3 Non-hospitalized injury Age 35 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 3
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 4
- Environmental factor
- 10
- Hazardous substance
- 0540
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#4 Non-hospitalized injury Age 35 M
- Nature of injury
- 11
- Part of body
- 8
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 14
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 4
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0540
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#5 Non-hospitalized injury Age 37 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 4
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0540
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#6 Hospitalized Age 28 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 4
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0540
- 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.