OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14525521
BURN,EYE,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,WORK RULES,DRUM,TORCH,EXPLOSION,CUTTING AND BURNING
Event description
EMPLOYEE USING ACETYLENE TORCH TO CUT DRUM; DRUM EXPLODED
Investigation abstract
AT APPROXIMATELY 12:30 PM ON MARCH 18, 1986, TWO EMPLOYEES OF THE BIRD PLUMBING CORP., WORKING AT THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE SHOP, WERE USING AN ACETYLENE TORC H TO CUT THE BOTTOMS FROM EMPTY 55 GALLON DRUMS. THE DRUMS CONTAINED RESIDUES OF PVC SOLVENT AND GLUE. ONE DRUM EXPLODED AS IT WAS BEING CUT. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS KI LLED AND EMPLOYEE #2 WAS BURNED ABOUT THE EYES. EMPLOYEE #2 WAS HOSPITALIZED.
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 57 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 9
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 29 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 8
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 9
- 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.