OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221383722

ECM DEVELOPMENT CORP.

FOMBELL, PA· 2021-08-18T00:00:00

Event: Arm, Blunt force, Blunt force trauma, Broken, Broken Bone, Chemical Vapor, Chest, Cutting, Drum, Exploded, Explosion, Flammable Vapors, Flying Object, Fracture, Hot Work, Ignite, Ignition, Manufacturing, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Nerve damage, Rib, Struck By, Torch, Torch cutting, Unsafe Position, Vapor
NAICS: 335311
Inspection type: Referral
Activity number: #345490924
Employer profile: ECM DEVELOPMENT CORP.
Summary number: 221383722
Report ID: 0317500

Event description

Employee breaks ribs, injures arm cutting drum that explodes

Investigation abstract

At 10:45 a.m. on August 18, 2021, an employee working as a production tester for damage to the lower portion of his right arm. a specialty transformer manufacturer was preparing to cut the lid off a 55-gallon drum. The drum had contained varnish and the contents had been emptied into a vat. The drum was then placed in an oven and baked for approximately 8 hours. The employee was preparing to cut the lid with a plasma cutter. He touched the torch to the metal at which time the drum exploded. The caps to the lid had not been removed prior to the drum being processed causing some vapors to still be trapped inside the drum. The vapors ignited inside the drum causing the explosion. The employee was hospitalized to treat broken ribs and nerve

Victim

#1 Hospitalized Age 59 M

Event type
1

Occupation code
797

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.