OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221447444
AMERICAN REFRIGERATION USA
WACO, TX·
Event description
Employee burns hand after disconnecting nuts on pressurized
Investigation abstract
At approximately 9:00 a.m. on March 15, 2022, an employee disconnected nuts to a employee was not wearing his protective gloves because he was supposed to be working in the bled offline, which would have eliminated the hazard of glove use. The employee sustained burns to the right hand from the anhydrous ammonia and was hospitalized for these injuries. line for service and repair work. The employee was working to depressurize lines of ammonia for service work. The team had isolated, performed proper lockout/tagout, and bled the line assigned for work off. The employee began disconnecting nuts on the wrong line with pressure still on it. Upon breaking loose, the nut-pressurized ammonia began to leak from the pipe; the employee reacted to protect the plan and other personnel on-site, grabbed the nut, and manually screwed a few turns of the threads to stop the leaking. This action caused burns to the employee's hands that needed medical attention. The
Victim
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 30 M
- Event type
- 1
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