OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #893594
THE BARTLEY CORPORATION
ALEXANDRIA, VA·
Event description
One employee killed, one injured in flash fire
Investigation abstract
At approximately 8:45 a.m. on August 4, 1988, Employees #1 and #2 were applying over the 5 gallon bucket of primer they had been using. This created a flash co ndition, engulfing both of them in flames. Employee #1 suffered severe burns on 40 percent of his body and was hospitalized. Employee #2 suffered severe burns o ver 90 percent of his body and died on August 14, 1988, from burn-related compli cations. The main cause of this accident was using a highly volatile primer too close to an open flame. There also was no fire extinguisher in the area. bithuthene primer P-3100, an extremely flammable liquid waterproofing material, to a concrete foundation wall. They were working approximately 13 ft from a cowo rker who was using a propane-powered torch to dry out the concrete prior to appl ication of the primer. A small drainage ditch had been dug along the base of the wall to drain the groundwater away. The primer ran down the wall and into the d rainage ditch, where it floated down to the open flame of the torch and ignited. The flames traveled back up to where Employees #1 and #2 were working, igniting the wet primer on the wall. They panicked, and in their haste to escape, kicked
Victims (4)
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 54 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 599
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 10
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Fatality Age 45 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 599
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 10
- 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
-
#982 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
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.