OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14519151
RAM PETROLEUM SERVICES INC
OUCHITA PARISH, LA—
Event description
NATURAL GAS EXPLOSION IN FRAC TANK
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1, WORKING ALONE, WAS IN THE PROCESS OF REMOVING A 500 BARREL CAPACITY FRAC TANK FROM A WELL SITE. THE TANK HAD PREVIOUSLY CONTAINED WATER CONTAMINATE D WITH NATURAL GAS RESIDUE. THE VAPORS WERE SOMEHOW IGNITED, CAUSING AN EXPLOSIO N. THE EXPLOSION VENTED THROUGH AN OPEN VENT IN THE FRONT OF THE TANK, BURNING A ND KILLING EMPLOYEE #1. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS SAID TO BE HEAVY SMOKER. A LIKELY SOURCE OF IGNITION IN THIS CASE WAS EITHER A LIT CIGARETTE OR A LIGHTER USED TO LIGHT A CIGARETTE.
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 33 M
- Nature of injury
- 5
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 35
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 7
- Hazardous substance
- 1640
- 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.