OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14469506

E E ZIMMERMAN CO

PITTSBURGH, PA— 1984-09-21T00:00:00

Event: BURN, LACQUER THINNER, E GI V, ELECTRICAL, FLAMMABLE LIQUID, FLAMMABLE VAPORS, STORAGE TANK, ELECTRIC PUMP, EXPLOSION, EQUIPMENT APPROVAL
NAICS: 000000
Inspection type: Referral
Activity number: #882357
Employer profile: E E ZIMMERMAN CO
Summary number: 14469506
Report ID: 317500

Event description

ELECTRICAL EXPLOSION - ARCING FROM UNAPPROVED ELECTRIC PUMP

Investigation abstract

TWO EMPLOYEES WERE REMOVING FLAMMABLE LIQUID (LACQUER THINNER) FROM A STORAGE TA NK. THE HATCH COVER WAS REMOVED FROM THE TANK. A PLASTIC PORTABLE HAND HELD PUMP WAS INSERTED THROUGH THE HATCH OPENING TO SIPHON THE LACQUER THINNER INTO A 55 GALLON DRUM. APPARENTLY, A CONCENTRATION OF FLAMMABLE VAPORS WAS AT AN EXPLOSIVE LEVEL WHEN THE NON-EXPLOSION-PROOF PUMP WAS STARTED. AN EXPLOSION RESULTED IN W HICH EMPLOYEE #1 RECEIVED THIRD DEGREE BURNS OVER 40% OF HIS BODY.

Victim

#1 Hospitalized Age 30 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
3

Event type
14

Source
9

Occupation code
999

Human factor
6

Environmental factor
10

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.