OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14569875
OIL TANK,NATURAL GAS,EXPLOSION,TANK
Event description
OIL TANK EXPLOSION
Investigation abstract
THE COMPANY WAS CLEANING AN OIL AND GAS WELL BY FORCING STEAM DOWN THE WELL TO R EMOVE PARAFFIN. AFTER THE PARAFFIN WAS PUT INTO A HOLDING TANK THE GAS PRESSURE LET LOOSE WITH GREAT FORCE THROUGH THE PLASTIC PIPE BETWEEN THE OIL WELL HEAD AN D THE HOLDING TANK. THIS IS BELIEVED TO HAVE CAUSED A STATIC DISCHARGE OR FRICTI ON THAT IGNITED THE NATURAL GAS, CAUSING THE EXPLOSION.
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 33 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 25 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 2
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 19
- 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.