OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14530083
CATELLI FOODS
MANCHESTER, NH·
Event description
Employees affected by inhalation of ammonia
Investigation abstract
Employees became aware of an ammonia smell or were told by others that there was hospital emergency room and released. They were instructed to take a couple of d ays off from work. The other employees, warned by Employees #1 and #2's reaction , evidently held their breath and were not affected. an ammonia leak. They had been instructed to leave the building when such leaks occurred, unless it was a small leak. The employees exited the building through the pump room door to the dock area. The ammonia release occurred due to a stuc k pressure relief valve on the system that vented an unknown quantity of ammonia to the outside through a pipe almost directly over the pump room exit door. Emp loyees #1 and #2, the first employees to exit, inhaled a concentrated amount of ammonia as they went through the gas cloud. They suffered dizziness, weakness, e ye irritation, stomach pain, and difficulty breathing. They were treated at the
Victims (2)
-
#1 Non-hospitalized injury Age 25 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0170
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 31 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0170
- 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.