105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #946186

BURN,E GI V,ELECTRICAL,FLAMMABLE LIQUID,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,FIRE,EXPLOSION,ELEC EQUIPMENT--MISC

Event
BURN,E GI V,ELECTRICAL,FLAMMABLE LIQUID,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,FIRE,EXPLOSION,ELEC EQUIPMENT--MISC
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
946186
Report ID
453710

Event description

BURN - EXPLOSION CAUSED BY ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT

Investigation abstract

Two employees were removing polyurethane coating from a restroom floor in an off ice building. One of the employees was using a brush to apply a flammable paint and varnish remover over the surface of the floor. The light was on and the ceil ing exhaust fan was running. The other employee was operating a P/H electric buf fer with a 457-millimeter-diameter nylon-bristle brush. He stopped to open the d oor, and the flammable vapors in the room ignited and caused a fire. The employe e operating the buffer sustained second-degree burns, for which he was hospitali zed. His coworker received second- and third-degree burns over 75 percent of his body. He died of his injuries.

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 42 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    22
    Event type
    14
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    453
    Human factor
    6
    Environmental factor
    10
    Hazardous substance
    0040
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Fatality Age 44 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    14
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    453
    Human factor
    6
    Environmental factor
    10
    Hazardous substance
    0040
    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.