104,543Records 70,659Employers 84,666Hospitalizations 27,563Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-09-30
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #731042

BURN,DIESEL FUEL TANK,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,WELDING,EXPLOSION,PURGING,TANK

Event
BURN,DIESEL FUEL TANK,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,WELDING,EXPLOSION,PURGING,TANK
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
731042
Report ID
551800

Event description

DIESEL FUEL TANK EXPLODED WHILE BEING WELDED ON

Investigation abstract

ON AUGUST 16, 1984, AT 8:30 AM, EMPLOYEE #1 WAS INJURED WHEN A DIESEL FUEL TANK HE WAS WELDING EXPLODED. HE RECEIVED THIRD DEGREE BURNS TO THE FACE, CHEST, ARMS AND BACK; AND SECOND DEGREE BURNS TO THE LEGS. HE DIED ON NOVEMBER 23, 1984, AT WISHARD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL IN INDIANAPOLIS. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS THE SOLE OWNER OF JO HN'S PORTABLE WELDING SERVICE. THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED AT THE ROB JONES RESIDENCE ON STATE ROAD 57 SOUTH IN WASHINGTON, INDIANA. EMPLOYEE #1 FAILED TO DRAIN AND P URGE THE DIESEL FUEL TANK BEFORE BEGINNING THE WELDING OPERATION.

Victim

  1. #1 Fatality Age 51 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    14
    Source
    35
    Occupation code
    783
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    10
    Hazardous substance
    8880
    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.