OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14235451
LAHASS MFG & SALES
ST PAUL, MN—
Event description
EMPLOYEES BURNED IN TANK EXPLOSION AND SUBSEQUENT FIRE
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS INSTRUCTED TO REPAIR A LEAKING SEAM ON A DIESEL FUEL TANK. HE BE GAN TO ARC WELD THE FUEL TANK SEAM WITHOUT PROPERLY VENTING OR CLEANING THE FUEL TANK. AT APPROXIMATLY 8:59 AM THE FUEL TANK EXPLODED. THE ENSUING FIREBALL ENGU LFED EMPLOYEE #1, SETTING HIS CLOTHING ON FIRE. HE RAN ABOUT 50 FEET TO THE OFFI CE AREA, WHERE EMPLOYEE #2 ATTEMPTED TO SMOTHER THE FIRE WITH A FIRE BLANKET. EM PLOYEE #1'S SHIRT WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY CONSUMED BY FIRE BY THIS TIME. THE SHIRT W AS A MADE OF A SYNTHETIC MATERIAL WHICH STUCK TO EMPLOYEE #2'S HANDS AS HE ATTEM PTED TO EXTINGUISH THE FIRE.
Victims (2)
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 27 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 503
- Human factor
- 18
- Environmental factor
- 18
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 43 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 12
- Event type
- 10
- Source
- 16
- Occupation code
- 503
- Human factor
- 20
- Environmental factor
- 18
- Task assigned
- 2
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.