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 #977124

RESPIRATORY,VENTILATION,HEADACHE,TOXIC ATMOSPHERE,INHALATION,NAUSEA,CARBON MONOXIDE

Event
RESPIRATORY,VENTILATION,HEADACHE,TOXIC ATMOSPHERE,INHALATION,NAUSEA,CARBON MONOXIDE
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
977124
Report ID
454725

Event description

EMPLOYEES EXPOSED TO LOW LEVELS OF CARBON MONOXIDE

Investigation abstract

ON DECEMBER 5, 1986, AT APPROXIMATELY 9:45 AM, EMPLOYEES BEGAN HAVING HEADACHES M, THE SECOND SHIFT WAS ALLOWED TO GO TO WORK. THEY WORKED FROM 4:30 PM TO MIDNI GHT. PLANT OPERATIONS RETURNED TO NORMAL THE NEXT DAY. CARBON MONOXIDE LEVELS RE MAINED BELOW 50 PPM TIME WEIGHTED AVERAGE. EIGHT EMPLOYEES WERE HOSPITALIZED. 10 3 EMPLOYEES WERE TREATED WITH OXYGEN IN THE HOSPITAL FOR 2-3 HOURS AND THEN RELE ASED. AND NAUSEA. A CHECK FOR NATURAL GAS LEAKS WAS MADE. NONE WAS FOUND. MORE EMPLOYE ES DEVELOPED HEADACHES AND NAUSEA, SO ALL EMPLOYEES WERE RELEASED EARLY FOR LUNC H. AT ABOUT 12:30 PM ONE EMPLOYEE BECAME WEAK AND WAS SENT TO THE HOSPITAL. SEVE RAL OTHER EMPLOYEES WENT ALONG WITH HER. OTHER EMPLOYEES BEGAN TO EXPERIENCE WEA KNEES AND NAUSEA. ALL EMPLOYEES EXPERIENCING SYMPTOMS WERE SENT HOME AT 1 PM. AF TER THE PLANT WAS CLOSED THE CARBON MONOXIDE LEVELS WERE MEASURED. LEVELS ABOVE 50 PPM BUT LESS THAN 150 PPM WERE FOUND IN SOME AREAS OF THE PLANT. AN AIR MAKE- UP SYSTEM WAS TURNED ON. WHEN CARBON MONOXIDE LEVELS WERE REDUCED TO BELOW 50 PP

Victims (9)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 43 F

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    785
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Hospitalized Age 54 F

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    785
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    1
  3. #3 Hospitalized Age 42 F

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    785
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    1
  4. #4 Hospitalized Age 34 F

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    785
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    1
  5. #5 Hospitalized Age 38 F

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    785
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    1
  6. #6 Hospitalized Age 39 F

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    785
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    1
  7. #7 Hospitalized Age 48 F

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    785
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    1
  8. #8 Hospitalized Age 34 F

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    785
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    Task assigned
    1
  9. #9 Non-hospitalized injury Age 52 F

    Nature of injury
    2
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    8
    Source
    19
    Occupation code
    785
    Human factor
    19
    Environmental factor
    7
    Hazardous substance
    0560
    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.