OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14538748
BURN,HYDROGEN FLUORIDE,METHYL CHLOROFORM,STORAGE TANK,PRESSURE PIPING,HAZARDOUS WASTE,NECK,ARM,FACE
Event description
EMPLOYEE BURNED BY HOT TARS FROM HAZARDOUS WASTE LINE
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 HAD USED CHICAGO COUPLINGS TO INSTALL A FLEXIBLE TEMPORARY LINE FROM THE METHYL CHLOROFORM PUMP (350 POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH) TO THE LINE CONNECTING THE BOTTOM OF THE REACTOR WITH THE HAZARDOUS WASTE STORAGE TANK. THE PURPOSE WAS TO CLEAN ACCUMULATED "TARS" FROM THE TANK LINE. AS EMPLOYEE #1 OPENED THE VALVE TO PRESSURIZE THE LINE WITH METHYL CHLOROFORM, THE CHICAGO COUPLING CAME LOOSE. SINCE NO SAFETY CLIP WAS BEING USED THE "TARS" SPRAYED FROM THE COUPLING ONTO E MPLOYEE #1. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS EXPOSED TO HYDROGEN FLUORIDE AND METHYL CHLOROFORM, RESULTING IN FIRST AND SECOND DEGREE BURNS TO HIS ARMS, FACE AND NECK. EMPLOYEE #1 DIED APPROXIMATELY 30 TO 40 MINUTES LATER FROM CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIA.
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 53 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 2
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 699
- Human factor
- 6
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1460
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#981 Degree 0 Age 0
- Nature of injury
- 0
- Part of body
- 0
- Event type
- 0
- Source
- 0
- Occupation code
- 0
- Human factor
- 0
- Environmental factor
- 0
- Task assigned
- 0
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.