OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #594341
DOWDLE BUTANE GAS CO.
ABERDEEN, MS·
Event description
Delivery truck driver dies of burns from butane fire
Investigation abstract
On April 10, 1989, Employee #1, of Dowdle Butane Gas Co., was preparing to fill his butane delivery truck at its Aberdeen bulk storage facility. The fill hose b ecame entangled in the chain link fence and turned the gate valve on, which allo wed butane to escape and be ignited by his truck. Employee #1 died on April 12, 1989, from burns suffered in the ensuing butane fire. The cause of the accident was another employee leaving the flow valve open at the bulk tank instead of clo sing it as he had been trained to do.
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 61 Male
- Nature of injury
- Burn/Scald(Heat) (5)
- Part of body
- BODYSYSTEM (4)
- Accident type
- OTHER (14)
- Source of injury
- FIRE/SMOKE (16)
- Occupation
- Truck drivers, light (805)
- Human factor
- INSUFF/LACK/WRITN WRK PRAC PROG. (18)
- Environmental factor
- FLAMMABLE LIQ/SOLID EXPOSURE (10)
- Hazardous substance
- 0420
- Task assigned
- Task regularly assigned (1)
Labels are OSHA's own, from the code dictionary published with the accident-investigation file. The raw code is shown beside each one so this page can be reconciled against OSHA's bulk data. OSHA notes that nature of injury, part of body, source of injury and accident type in this file are not coded to the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System, and that the occupation titles are not standardised — so these values are not directly comparable with the OIICS-coded severe injury reports.