OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14217160
NORTHERN PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION CO
PHOENIX, AZ—
Event description
ASPHYXIATED BY METHANE GAS
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS INSPECTING OR SURVEYING NATURAL GAS LINES. HE INADVERTENTLY CUT THROUGH A 5/8 INCH PLASTIC NATURAL GAS LINE. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ATTACH A CLAMP TO THE PRESSURIZED LINE, HE HAD TO POSITION HIMSELF WITH HIS HEAD AT THE BOTTOM OF THE 2 FEET DEEP BY 18 INCH WIDE HOLE HE HAD DUG. THE HOLE HAD FILLED WITH NAT URAL GAS AND HE WAS ASPHYXIATED. THE EMPLOYEE WAS REMOVED FROM HOLE BY THE HOME OWNER, WHO NOTED THE STRONG ODOR OF GAS IN THE HOUSE.
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 19 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 31
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 19
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1640
- 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.