OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14543631
EARTHMOVERS UNLIMITED, INC.
WILKES-BARRE, PA·
Event description
EMPLOYEES BURNED BY HOT ASH AND STEAM
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 AND EMPLOYEE #2 WERE WATCHING A 600 DART ENDLOADER TAKE HOT BURNING ASH FROM A BANK ESTIMATED TO BE 35 FEET HIGH AND 175 FEET WIDE. BOTH EMPLOYEES W ERE STANDING NEAR A WATER IMPOUNDING BASIN (ACCUMULATOR) FOR WATER FROM CANNONS USED TO COOL THE BURNING ASH BANK. A SLIDE, PROBABLY CAUSED BY THE WATER BARRAGE AND REMOVAL OF THE TIP OF THE ENDLOADER, FELL INTO THE WATER BASIN. THE INSTANT VAPORIZATION OF THE WATER CAUSED AN EXPLOSION. EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 WERE SHOWERE D WITH STEAM AND HOT MATERIAL AND SUFFERED SERIOUS MULTIPLE BURNS. THEY WERE HOS PITALIZED.
Victims (2)
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 53 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 41
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 43 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 41
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- 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.