OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #733634
SUFFOCATED,AMMONIUM NITRATE,FLOWING MATERIAL,BURIED,CAVE-IN
Event description
TRAPPED BY CAVE-IN OF AMMONIUM NITRATE INSIDE RR HOPPER
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEES 1 AND 2 WERE WORKING INSIDE A RAILROAD HOPPER CAR, USING AN ELECTRIC J MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. ACKHAMMER AND A SLEDGEHAMMER TO REMOVE HARDENED AMMONUIM NITRATE PRILLS FROM THE SIDES OF THE CAR. THE EMPLOYEES WERE STANDING ON A 2" X 12" WOODEN PLANK LAID A CROSS THE WIDTH OF THE CAR WHEN APPROXIMATELY THREE TONS OF THE HARDENED AMMONIU M NITRATE FELL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE CAR, UPSETTING THE PLANK. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS TH ROWN HEAD FIRST INTO THE FERTILIZER AND WAS SUBSEQUENTLY BURIED FROM HIS HEAD TO HIS KNEES. EMPLOYEE #2 WAS BURIED UP TO HIS KNEES, BUT WAS ABLE TO PULL HIMSELF OUT. HE WAS UNABLE TO PULL EMPLOYEE #1 FROM THE FERTILIZER. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS REM OVED FROM THE FERTILIZER BY RESCUE WORKERS, BUT WAS DEAD ON ARRIVAL AT SHERIDAN
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 46 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 43
- Occupation code
- 889
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 6
- Hazardous substance
- A613
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 26 M
- Nature of injury
- 4
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 43
- Occupation code
- 889
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- A613
- 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.