OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14513923
EMPIRE DETROIT STEEL DIVISION OF CYCLOPS CORP
MANSFIELD, OH—
Event description
BURNED BY HOT WATER FROM FURNACE COOLING LINE
Investigation abstract
THE EMPLOYEES WERE IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGING A 52 INCH WATER COOLED ELBOW ON TH USING IT TO PUSH THE HEATED WATER OUT THE REMAINING 6 INCH PIPE. THE HOT WATER S TRUCK EMPLOYEE #1 IN THE CHEST, CAUSING FATAL THIRD DEGREE BURNS. HE WAS STANDIN G DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE OPEN LINE. PROTECTIVE CLOTHING WAS NOT REQUIRED OR BE ING USED. E TOP OF ELECTRIC ARC STEEL MELTING FURNACE #8. A PIPE ELBOW, USED FOR EMISSION CONTROL, HAD BEEN LEAKING WATER INTO THE FURNACE. THE ELBOW WAS REMOVED FROM THE FURNACE AND A NEW ONE PUT ON. THE NEW ONE WOULD NOT FIT. THEY HAD TO BURN A HOL E IN THE LOWER PART OF THE OLD ELBOW TO DRAIN IT, WELD THE LEAKS, AND PUT IT BAC K ON THE FURNACE. THEY PLUGGED THE DRAIN HOLE BEFORE ALL THE WATER HAD DRAINED O UT. AS THEY WERE ATTEMPTINGTO HOOK UP THE 6 INCH SUPPLY AND DISCHARGE LINES, THE WATER IN THE FURNACE LINES HEATED RAPIDLY. STEAM WAS VENTING OUT THE 6"INCH LIN ES WHEN THEY GOT THE FIRST LINE ON. THIS TRAPPED THE STEAM INSIDE THE JACKET, CA
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 58 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 19
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 23
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 11
- 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.