OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221622871

NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD

NORFOLK, VA· 2023-12-07T00:00:00

Event: Argon, Asphyxiated, Atmosphere, Breathing, Confined Space, Entry Permit, Fuel Tank, Lack of oxygen, Lung, Overcome by gas, Oxygen, Oxygen Deficiency, Permit, Pipe, Repair, Respirator, Respiratory Tract, Shipyard, Tank, Testing, Troubleshooting
NAICS: 336611
Inspection type: Federal Agency
Activity number: #347154957
Employer profile: NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD
Summary number: 221622871
Report ID: 0316300

Event description

Employee dies from asphyxiation after entering fuel tank

Investigation abstract

At 2:15 p.m. on December 7, 2023, an employee working as a pipefitter for a shipyard was tasked to inspect JP5 tanks to ensure they were safe for a permit required confined space entry and then assist with troubleshooting a repair connection. The employee entered a tank and was overcome by lack of oxygen cause by argon gas. The employee died due to asphyxiation.

Victim

#1 Fatality Age 44 M

Event type
14

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.