OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #674218
CENTRAL TRANSPORT, INC.
NORTH AUGUSTA, SC·
Event description
EMPLOYEE DIED AFTER ENTERING OXYGEN DEFICIENT ATMOSPHERE
Investigation abstract
A TANK TRUCK DRIVER ENTERED THE INSIDE OF A CARGO TANK (NUMBER 3497) AT A WASH S TATION TO CLEAN THE TANK. THE TANK HAD PREVIOUSLY CONTAINED A HYDROGEN SULFITE S OLUTION WITH A NITROGEN BLANKET. THE EMPLOYEE WAS OVERCOME WITHIN 1 MINUTE. THE AUTOPSY LISTED THE CAUSE OF DEATH AS ANOXIA DUE TO EXPOSURE TO A NITROGEN RICH A TMOSPHERE. AIR SAMPLING THE NEXT DAY REVEALED HIGH LEVELS (BUT NOT ABOVE IDLH LE VEL) OF SULFUR DIOXIDE. THE CAUSE OF THIS INCIDENT WAS EMPLOYEE ERROR: HE ENTERE D A CONFINED SPACE WITHOUT TAKING THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS.
Victims (4)
-
#1 Fatality Age 26 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 12
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 804
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 2290
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#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
-
#982 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
-
#983 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.