OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14512958
ACCURATE MECHANICAL INC
GREEN BAY, WI—
Event description
EMPLOYEE INJURED WHEN CEMENT TANK EXPLODED
Investigation abstract
DURING THE MORNING OF AUGUST 16, 1984, EMPLOYEE #1 WAS CUTTING HOLES INTO PIPES D THAT WHEN EMPLOYEE #1 WAS CUTTING A HOLE, HOT SPARKS FELL INTO THE TANK, IGNIT ING THE VAPORS. FOR THE INSTALLATION OF THERMOMETERS. HE WAS USING AN OXYGEN AND ACETYLENE SYSTE M WITH A CUTTING TORCH. ONE OF THE PIPES HE WAS CUTTING LED DOWN INTO A CEMENT T ANK, WHICH WAS 16 FEET BY 8 FEET BY 6 FEET DEEP. ABOUT 21 DAYS PRIOR TO THE ACCI DENT, ANOTHER CONTRACTOR HAD APPLIED A COAL TAR EPOXY SEALER TO THE FLOOR AND WA LLS OF THE TANK. THE SEALER WAS FLAMMABLE IN A LIQUID STATE. IT HAD A CURING TIM E OF 14 TO 20 DAYS AT 30 TO 50 DEGREES F (LESS TIME AT A HIGHER TEMPERATURE). TH E TANK WAS NOT VENTILATED AFTER THE SEALER WAS APPLIED. THE TANK WAS LOCATED BEL OW A BUILDING, AND HAD ONLY A FEW SMALL OPENINGS AT THE TOP. IT CAN BE SPECULATE
Victim
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 42 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 2
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 9
- Occupation code
- 585
- Human factor
- 4
- Environmental factor
- 7
- 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.