OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #781500
ENCLOSED SPACE,MEK,VAPOR,VENTILATION,WORK RULES,TOXIC ATMOSPHERE,FAINTED,CHEMICAL VAPOR,OVEREXPOSURE,RESPIRATOR
Event description
Five employees exposed to MEK vapors
Investigation abstract
On February 20, 1990, three employees were sent to the hospital after suffering symptoms of overexposure to methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) in a closed area with reci rculated air. There was no exhaust to pull out the vapors at the work stations. The problem was thought to have been resolved by introducing fresh air instead o f recirculated air; however, no exhaust was provided. Five employees were sent t o the hospital for their exposure to the MEK vapors. One employee passed out on the way to the medical facility. No employees were hospitalized.
Victims (7)
-
#1 Non-hospitalized injury Age 26 F
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0430
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 31 F
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0430
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#3 Non-hospitalized injury Age 25 F
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 1
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0430
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#4 Non-hospitalized injury Age 25 F
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0430
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#5 Non-hospitalized injury Age 34 F
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0430
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#6 Non-hospitalized injury Age 25 F
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0430
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#7 Non-hospitalized injury Age 29 F
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 0430
- 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.