OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #733717
OXYGEN DEFICIENCY,UNCONSCIOUSNESS,WORK RULES,CONFINED SPACE,CONSTRUCTION,NITROGEN
Event description
Employee dies in oxygen-deficient confined space
Investigation abstract
At approximately 8:00 a.m. on September 9, 1988, Employee #1, a part-time forema . n, was sent to the top of a 146 foot high vessel to visually check the level of blown-in perlite insulation. A coworker, a laborer who had worked for the compan y for approximately 30 days, went with him. Two supervisors remained at ground l evel. Employee #1 and the coworker removed the manhole cover and were unable to see the perlite level. Employee #1 told the coworker not to tell anyone and then proceeded down into the vessel. The normal atmosphere had been displaced with 7 7 percent nitrogen. Employee #1 made it back to within four feet of the entrance point before he lost consciousness and fell back into the vessel. He was killed
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 23 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 44
- Occupation code
- 863
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1900
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#981 Degree 0 Age 0
- Nature of injury
- 0
- Part of body
- 0
- Event type
- 0
- Source
- 0
- Occupation code
- 0
- Human factor
- 0
- Environmental factor
- 0
- Task assigned
- 0
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