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 #705145

UNCONSCIOUSNESS,HYDROGEN SULFIDE,WORK RULES,INHALATION,CHEMICAL REACTION,TOXIC FUMES,CHEMICAL

Event
UNCONSCIOUSNESS,HYDROGEN SULFIDE,WORK RULES,INHALATION,CHEMICAL REACTION,TOXIC FUMES,CHEMICAL
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
705145
Report ID
352450

Event description

EXPOSURE TO HYDROGEN SULFIDE GAS

Investigation abstract

EMPLOYEE #3, A CHEMICAL PLANT OPERATOR, ADDED EXCESSIVE ACID TO A SODIUM ISOPROP YL XANTHATE SOLUTION, RESULTING IN A RELEASE OF ABOUT 3 POUNDS OF HYDROGEN SULFI DE GAS. EMPLOYEE #3 WAS OVERCOME BY THE GAS, WHILE THE 6 OTHER EMPLOYEES WERE IN JURED DURING THE RESCUE PROCEDURE. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO THE ACCIDENT INCLUDE: 1. INAPPROPRIATE REACTOR VESSEL PREPARATION (CRITICAL VALVES WERE IN THE WRONG POSTION), 2. OPERATOR FAILURE TO INSPECT VESSEL SETUP AND, 3. USE OF AN INAPPROP RIATE VESSEL (NO HYDROGEN SULFIDE SCRUBBER).

Victims (7)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 26 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    1480
    Task assigned
    2
  2. #2 Hospitalized Age 29 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    1480
    Task assigned
    2
  3. #3 Hospitalized Age 35 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    1480
    Task assigned
    1
  4. #4 Hospitalized Age 30 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    1480
    Task assigned
    2
  5. #5 Hospitalized Age 57 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    1480
    Task assigned
    2
  6. #6 Hospitalized Age 28 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    1480
    Task assigned
    2
  7. #7 Hospitalized Age 35 M

    Nature of injury
    4
    Part of body
    28
    Event type
    8
    Source
    9
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    9
    Hazardous substance
    1480
    Task assigned
    2

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.