OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14542427
BURN,UNCONSCIOUSNESS,FINGER,INHALATION,SKIN,TOXIC FUMES,TRICHLORETHYLENE
Event description
OVERCOME BY TRICHLOROETHYLENE VAPORS; BURNED
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS DRAINING THE CONTENTS OF A WATER SEPARATOR ATTACHED TO A VAPOR D EGREASER. THE CONTENTS DRAINED ONTO THE FLOOR AND FLOWED INTO A FLOOR DRAIN A FE W FEET AWAY. THE PLUG WAS REPLACED AND THE EMPLOYEE RETURNED A TOOL TO THE TOOL LOCKER. THE EMPLOYEE THEN RETURNED TO THE WATER SEPARATOR TO CHECK THE WATER LEV EL. HE PASSED OUT WHILE HE WAS CLIMBING THE LADDER AND FELL AGAINST TWO DISCHARG ING STEAM PIPES. HE REMAINED THERE, UNCONSCIOUS, FOR 15 TO 20 MINUTES BEFORE HE WAS DISCOVERED. HE SUSTAINED BURNS OVER 20% OF HIS BODY. IN ADDITION, FOUR FINGE RS HAD TO BE AMPUTATED AT THE SECOND JOINT. FURTHER SKIN DRAFTS ARE ALSO REQUIRE D.
Victim
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 38 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 23
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 18
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 2490
- 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.