OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14528665
UNCONSCIOUSNESS,CONFINED SPACE,METHYLENE CHLORIDE,TANK CLEANING,DIZZINESS,TANK
Event description
Chemical asphyxiation/lack of oxygen during tank cleaning
Investigation abstract
On February 26, 1984, four employees began cleaning the inside of a copper plati ved with additional gear. The four men were hospitalized for several days and fu lly recovered. One rescue person felt sick after helping the fire department rem ove the victims and was also taken to the hospital for examination and release. ng tank with methylene chloride soaked rags. The tank was empty. It's dimensions were 5 feet deep by 8 feet wide by 12 feet long. Approximately 2 gallons of met hylene chloride were brought into the tank in one or two plastic buckets. Each e mployee, using a rag with methylene chloride, started wiping down a wall of the tank. After several minutes the men became dizzy, passed out, and dropped to the floor of the tank. Two plant rescue personnel arrived at the tank after a passe rby saw the men unconscious in the tank. The two rescue personnel attempted to r emove the men from the tank but were unsuccessful until fire dept personnel arri
Victims (5)
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 28 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1730
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 20 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1730
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#3 Hospitalized Age 27 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1730
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#4 Hospitalized Age 22 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1730
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#5 Hospitalized Age 30 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1730
- Task assigned
- 2
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.