105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14467005

VALERO HYDROCARBON SHOUP GAS PLANT

Event
BURN,VAPOR,FLAMMABLE LIQUID,FLAMMABLE VAPORS,FIRE,NATURAL GAS,GAS,EXPLOSION,GAS LEAK,GAS WELL DRILLING
NAICS
000000
Inspection type
Referral
Activity number
#1430255
Employer profile
VALERO HYDROCARBON SHOUP GAS PLANT
Summary number
14467005
Report ID
626000

Event description

Two employees burned in gas explosion; one dies

Investigation abstract

At approximately 6:15 a.m. on May 10, 1984, Employees #1 and #2 observed gas lea king from a feed pump. They tried to stop the leak by shutting off the power to the motor, thereby blocking the #1 pump. Employee #2 was turning the valves and Employee #1 was shutting off the electric power when the area exploded in flames . The fire extended over 60 yards, engulfing the two employees and then rolled n orth to the main gates. Employees #1 and #2 ran to the east, attempting to extin guish their flaming clothes. Employee #1 was hospitalized with first-, second-, and third-degree burns over 35 percent of his body. Employee #2 suffered first-, second-, and third-degree burns over 65 percent of his body, and died.

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 26 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    2
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Fatality Age 52 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    2
    Source
    16
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    7
    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.