OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14382238

PEWE PACKAGING INC

ROCKFORD, IL— 1985-04-03T00:00:00

Event: ELECTRIC ARC, ELECTRICAL, E GI VII, FIRE, EXPLOSION, COMBUSTIBLE DUST, ELECTRICAL FAULT, HOUSEKEEPING, EQUIPMENT APPROVAL
NAICS: 000000
Inspection type: Accident-driven
Activity number: #2241834
Employer profile: PEWE PACKAGING INC
Summary number: 14382238
Report ID: 521400

Event description

ELECTRICAL EXPLOSION - ELECTRICAL FAULT IGNITED COMBUST DUST

Investigation abstract

EMPLOYEES WERE WORKING AT A PLANT THAT MIXES AND PACKAGES A PESTICIDE FOR RATS, GOPHERS, GROUND SQUIRRELS, AND SIMILAR PESTS. THE PRODUCT CONSISTED OF SODIUM NI TRATE, SULFUR, CHARCOAL, AND DEXTRIM. AN ARC PRODUCED BY SOME ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT STARTED A FUSE-LIKE FIRE ON THE FLOOR. SEVERAL MASSIVE EXPLOSIONS THEN OCCURRED . ONE EMPLOYEE WAS KILLED, AND 13 OTHERS WERE INJURED IN THE EXPLOSION. THE ELEC TRIC EQUIPMENT WAS NOT APPROVED FOR THE HAZARDOUS LOCATION, AND THERE WAS POOR H OUSEKEEPING AT THE PLANT.

Victims (15)

#1 Hospitalized Age 20 F

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#10 Hospitalized Age 20 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#11 Hospitalized Age 20 F

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#12 Hospitalized Age 20 F

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
21

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#13 Hospitalized Age 20 F

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#14 Fatality Age 45 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
4

Event type
12

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
14

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#2 Hospitalized Age 20 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#3 Hospitalized Age 20 F

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#4 Hospitalized Age 20 F

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#5 Hospitalized Age 20 F

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#6 Hospitalized Age 20 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#7 Hospitalized Age 20 M

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#8 Hospitalized Age 20 F

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#9 Hospitalized Age 20 F

Nature of injury
21

Part of body
31

Event type
8

Source
16

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

Task assigned
1
#981 Degree 0 Age 0

Nature of injury
0

Part of body
0

Event type
0

Source
0

Occupation code
0

Human factor
0

Environmental factor
0

Task assigned
0

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.