OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221459423
PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY
CALISTOGA, CA·
Event description
One employee dies, another incurs multiple injuries due to u
Investigation abstract
At 4:15 p.m. on April 29, 2022, a PG&E maintenance crew was conducting pipeline the employees there to connect a portable air compressor to the line in an attempt to push the PIGs back to the launcher. He then returned to the launcher and after several vibrations and venting of the launcher vessel, Employee #1 determined that the PIG's had been pushed back to the launcher. He instructed Employee #2 to shut the vent valve on the launcher and he proceeded to prepare the closure door for opening. However, the closure door on the launcher vessel was opened and Employee #1 looked into the vessel with his flashlight in an attempt to verify the location of the PIG's. Employee #2 joined him and shined his own flashlight into the vessel as well. A loud noise was heard and the PIGs were dislodged, releasing the air pressure contained in the pipe, and the two drying following hydrostatic testing of an approximately two-mile-long section PIGs were ejected at a high rate of speed. The launcher vessel isolation valve had not been closed and the pipeline between the receiver and launcher had not been depressurized prior to opening the closure door. The two employees operating the launcher were struck by the escaping air and/or the PIGs. Employee #1 died due to blunt force trauma to the head. Employee #2 sustained multiple facial lacerations and fractures, damage to the right eye, and a concussion and was hospitalized. of natural gas transmission pipeline. Two PG&E employees were operating the PIG launcher, and two other employees were operating the PIG receiver. The employees at the launcher loaded a foam swab PIG and a Polyethene follower PIG into the launcher, pressurized the system and attempted to send the PIG through the pipeline to the receiver. The PIGs did not arrive at the receiver within the expected time frame and other parameters indicated that the PIGs may have become stuck in the line. Employee #1 proceeded to the receiver location and directed
Victims (2)
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 36 M
- Event type
- 1
-
#2 Fatality Age 33 M
- Event type
- 1
- Occupation code
- 585
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.