OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14454508
CITY OF MORNING SUN
MORNING SUN, IA—
Event description
DROWNED IN SEWAGE AFTER BEING OVERCOME BY SEWER GAS
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS IN THE DRY WELL CHANGING PUMPS. HE STARTED UP THE LADDER. ABOUT 1/3 OF THE WAY UP HE WAS OVERCOME BY SEWER GAS AND FELL OFF THE LADDER. THE DRY WELL STARTED TO FILL WITH SEWAGE. EMPLOYEE #2 DESCENDED TO ATTEMPT TO SAVE EMPLO YEE #1. HE TOO WAS OVERCOME WITH FUMES. EMPLOYEE #3 TIED A ROPE UNDER HIS ARMS A ND HAD ANOTHER MAN HOLD IT WHILE HE TRIED TO SAVE EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2. EMPLOYEE #3 WAS OVERCOME BY GAS AS WELL, AND THE OTHER MAN COULD NOT PULL HIM UP ALONE. T HE REMAINING MAN RAN FOR HELP. WHEN HE RETURNED WITH OTHERS, EMPLOYEE #3 WAS PUL LED OUT AND TAKEN BY AMBULANCE TO THE HOSPITAL. ALL THREE EMPLOYEES DIED.
Victims (3)
-
#1 Fatality Age 34 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 40
- Occupation code
- 864
- Human factor
- 16
- Environmental factor
- 18
- Hazardous substance
- 1480
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Fatality Age 30 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 40
- Occupation code
- 864
- Human factor
- 16
- Environmental factor
- 18
- Hazardous substance
- 1480
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#3 Fatality Age 38 M
- Nature of injury
- 17
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 8
- Source
- 40
- Occupation code
- 864
- Human factor
- 16
- Environmental factor
- 18
- Hazardous substance
- 1480
- 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.