OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #801977
BURN,FLAMMABLE LIQUID,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,WORK RULES,EXPLOSION,PAINT SOLVENT,PAINTER
Event description
2 EMPLOYEES KILLED WHEN FLAMMABLE VAPORS EXPLODED
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 AND #2 WERE CLEANING UP THE REAR AREA OF THE SHOP WHEN AN EXPLOSION ITION SOURCE IS NOT. OCCURRED. THEY WERE NEAR A WORK BENCH WHERE A FLAMMABLE LIQUID (PC-10 PAINT THIN NER) WAS KEPT IN A 5 GALLON METAL CONTAINER. AN OIL HEATER EQUIPPED WITH A PILOT LIGHT WAS LOCATED 8 FEET AWAY. TWO HOURS BEFORE THE EXPLOSION THE TWO EMPLOYEES HAD SPRAY PAINTED THE UNDERCOATING ONTO SIX CARS. THE PAINT USED WAS FLAMMABLE AND HAD BEEN MIXED WITH PC-10. THE SPRAY AREA WAS EQUIPPED WITH SEVERAL STANDARD RECEPTICLES. EXPLOSION PROOF RECEPTICLES SHOULD HAVE BEEN INSTALLED. EMPLOYEE # 1 WAS KILLED INSTANTLY AND EMPLOYEE #2 DIED ABOUT 4 WEEKS LATER. BOTH EMPLOYEES WERE BURNED OVER THEIR ENTIRE BODIES. ALTHOUGH THE FUEL SOURCE IS KNOWN, THE IGN
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 32 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 863
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 10
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Fatality Age 21 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 863
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 10
- 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.