OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #867572
DIAMOND CRYSTAL SALT CO. INC.
BARBERTON, OH·
Event description
EMPLOYEE KILLED WHEN EQUIPMENT EXPLODES
Investigation abstract
Employee #1 was working in a salt brine well located in an isolated rural area. The brine well was a concrete pit 16.25 in. by 8 ft 4 in. by 7 ft 8 in. deep wit h well pump equipment in the pit. Employee #1 was in the process of releasing pr essure off the wellhead by pumping nitrogen into the well to force out the brine . A muffler was used to silence the noise from the 1700 lbs of pressure created at the wellhead. A shutoff valve had been installed on the exit end of the muffl er, which caused the muffler to explode, amputating Employee #1's arm and killin g him.
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 50 Male
- Nature of injury
- Amputation (1)
- Part of body
- ARM-MULT (2)
- Accident type
- STRUCK BY (1)
- Source of injury
- AIR PRESSURE (2)
- Occupation
- Occupation not reported (999)
- Human factor
- EQUIP. INAPPROPR FOR OPERATION (6)
- Environmental factor
- FLYING OBJECT ACTION (5)
- Hazardous substance
- 1900
- Task assigned
- Task regularly assigned (1)
Labels are OSHA's own, from the code dictionary published with the accident-investigation file. The raw code is shown beside each one so this page can be reconciled against OSHA's bulk data. OSHA notes that nature of injury, part of body, source of injury and accident type in this file are not coded to the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System, and that the occupation titles are not standardised — so these values are not directly comparable with the OIICS-coded severe injury reports.