OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #514885
FLAMMABLE VAPORS,WORK RULES,OIL TANK,CIRCULAR SAW,ELECTRIC SAW,EXPLOSION,SMOKE INHALATION,VENTILATION,FIRE,CONSTRUCTION
Event description
Three employees killed in oil tank explosion
Investigation abstract
At about 2:10 p.m. on March 11, 1990, Employees #1, #2, and #3 had been using el he accident was the result of using unapproved (for the location) equipment in a potentially flammable atmosphere. ectric Skilsaws to cut and remove a damaged interior vapor barrier from a 55,000 barrel crude oil tank. They had just returned from a break, during which time t he coppus ventilator had been turned off. Temperatures reached the mid-80s durin g the day, increasing the vapor concentration within the tank. An explosion fire occurred in which Employees #1, #2, and #3 suffered second- and third-degree bu rns, smoke inhalation, and concussions. All three died. The model #5125 Skilsaws were not approved for use in a class I atmosphere. The owner of the tank tested the atmosphere only once per day for percent lower exposure limit and oxygen. T
Victims (4)
-
#1 Fatality Age 24 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 6
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Fatality Age 22 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 6
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#3 Fatality Age 34 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 6
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#981 Degree 0 Age 0
- Nature of injury
- 0
- Part of body
- 0
- Event type
- 0
- Source
- 0
- Occupation code
- 0
- Human factor
- 0
- Environmental factor
- 0
- Task assigned
- 0
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.