105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #677187

RESPIRATORY,LUNG,BLEACH,WORK RULES,CLEANING,INHALATION,PHOSPHORIC ACID,CHLORINE,CLEANING FLUID,TOXIC FUMES

Event
RESPIRATORY,LUNG,BLEACH,WORK RULES,CLEANING,INHALATION,PHOSPHORIC ACID,CHLORINE,CLEANING FLUID,TOXIC FUMES
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
677187
Report ID
522000

Event description

13 EMPLOYEES INJURED WHEN EXPOSED TO CHLORINE GAS

Investigation abstract

AT ABOUT 7 AM ON FEBRUARY 12, 1988, EMPLOYEE #1 WAS CLEANING THE #1 TUMBLER IN T ERE HOSPITALIZED OVERNIGHT BECAUSE OF EXPOSURE EFFECTS. HE FOURTH FLOOR HAM BONING ROOM. THE EMPLOYEE RINSED OUT THE TUMBLER WITH BRINE SOLUTION, THEN ADDED A BLEACH SOLUTION AND WHAT HE THOUGHT WAS AN ALKALINE SOAP. HE STARTED UP THE TUMBLER AND LEFT THE AREA. ON HIS WAY OUT, HE MET WITH EMPLOY EES #2 THROUGH #13, WHO WERE EVACUATING THEIR WORK POSITIONS BECAUSE SOMETHING W AS CAUSING THEM TO EXPERIENCE RESPIRATORY IRRITATION AND COUGHING. EMPLOYEE #1 T HEN WENT BACK TO THE TUMBLER TO INVESTIGATE. HE WAS EXPOSED TO THE TOXIC FUMES A ND SUFFERED SEVERE RESPIRATORY IRRITATION. THE MATERIAL THAT THE EMPLOYEE ADDED TO THE BLEACH TURNED OUT TO BE A PHOSPHORIC ACID SOLUTION. EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 W

Victims (13)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 32 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #10 Non-hospitalized injury Age 40 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  3. #11 Non-hospitalized injury Age 26 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  4. #12 Non-hospitalized injury Age 41 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  5. #13 Non-hospitalized injury Age 43 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  6. #2 Hospitalized Age 60 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  7. #3 Non-hospitalized injury Age 25 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  8. #4 Non-hospitalized injury Age 45 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  9. #5 Non-hospitalized injury Age 55 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  10. #6 Non-hospitalized injury Age 20 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  11. #7 Non-hospitalized injury Age 41 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  12. #8 Non-hospitalized injury Age 62 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1
  13. #9 Non-hospitalized injury Age 24 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    444
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    0640
    Task assigned
    1

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.