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 #709345

LEAK,CONFINED SPACE,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,WELDING,EXPLOSION,TANK,CUTTING AND BURNING

Event
LEAK,CONFINED SPACE,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,WELDING,EXPLOSION,TANK,CUTTING AND BURNING
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
709345
Report ID
854910

Event description

EXPLOSION OF FLAMMABLE VAPORS IN CONFINED SPACE

Investigation abstract

ON MARCH 13, 1986, AN OXYFUEL CUTTING HEAD WAS LEFT OVERNIGHT INSIDE AN OPEN TOP STEEL TANK. THE TANK WAS FIVE FEET BY FIVE FEET BY SIX FEET, MADE OF 1/4 INCH T HICK STEEL. THE REGULATOR AND SHUT OFF VALVES WERE LEFT ON, AND EITHER A LEAKING HOSE OR LEAKING CUTTING-HEAD VALVES ALLOWED THE TANK TO BECOME FULL OF GAS. ON MARCH 14, 1986, AT 9:45 AM, THE ACCUMULATED GAS WAS IGNITED BY A NEARBY CUTTING OPERATION.

Victims (6)

  1. #1 Non-hospitalized injury Age 38 M

    Nature of injury
    6
    Part of body
    14
    Event type
    14
    Source
    47
    Occupation code
    783
    Human factor
    18
    Environmental factor
    15
    Hazardous substance
    1803
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 21 M

    Nature of injury
    6
    Part of body
    14
    Event type
    14
    Source
    47
    Occupation code
    723
    Human factor
    18
    Environmental factor
    15
    Hazardous substance
    1803
    Task assigned
    1
  3. #3 Non-hospitalized injury Age 31 M

    Nature of injury
    6
    Part of body
    14
    Event type
    14
    Source
    47
    Occupation code
    783
    Human factor
    18
    Environmental factor
    15
    Hazardous substance
    1803
    Task assigned
    1
  4. #4 Non-hospitalized injury Age 40 M

    Nature of injury
    6
    Part of body
    14
    Event type
    14
    Source
    47
    Occupation code
    723
    Human factor
    18
    Environmental factor
    15
    Hazardous substance
    1803
    Task assigned
    1
  5. #5 Non-hospitalized injury Age 38 F

    Nature of injury
    3
    Part of body
    20
    Event type
    14
    Source
    43
    Occupation code
    313
    Human factor
    18
    Environmental factor
    15
    Hazardous substance
    1803
    Task assigned
    1
  6. #6 Non-hospitalized injury Age 22 M

    Nature of injury
    6
    Part of body
    14
    Event type
    14
    Source
    47
    Occupation code
    723
    Human factor
    18
    Environmental factor
    15
    Hazardous substance
    1803
    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.