OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14381941
CHEMICAL PRODUCTS DIVISION CARGILL INC
CARPENTERS AVE, IL—
Event description
EMPLOYEES EXPOSED TO TOXIC CHEMICAL FOG WHILE FIGHTING FIRE
Investigation abstract
At a paint resin manufacturing plant, two 12-foot by 24-foot, ground-level, vert eating agent). None of the employees had either the personal protection or the t raining for such an event. ical, cylindrical tanks of phthalic anhydride were heated to an unknown temperat ure. The temperature was well above the compound's melting point of 260 degrees Fahrenheit and its flash point of 304 degrees Fahrenheit. Because of the high te mperature, the compound exploded and burst into flame when the frangible tank to p blew off. Four production and maintenance workers and one supervisor were hosp italized after they used a large fire hose and water cannon to extinguish the fi re. All five were hospitalized for 1 to 3 days for respiratory problems resultin g from the inhalation of burning phthalic anhydride and diethylene glycol (the h
Victims (5)
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 21 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 2110
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 20 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 2110
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#3 Hospitalized Age 29 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 2110
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#4 Hospitalized Age 34 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 2110
- Task assigned
- 2
-
#5 Hospitalized Age 22 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 19
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 2110
- 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.