OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14522627
THE BABCOCK AND WILCOX COMPANY
BARBERTON, OH—
Event description
Employee dies of heart attack in argon-filled confined space
Investigation abstract
Employee #1 was assigned to purge a pipe that was to be welded with argon gas. A rgon was coming through the pipe and a spray nozzle, and Employee #1 entered the steam generator compartment to tape off the spray nozzle at the bottom of the c ompartment. A coworker heard him tear off some tape, after which he became unres ponsive. Employee #1 had died after suffering a heart attack. The only opening t o the compartment was a 16 inch diameter manway; all other openings were sealed. The only source of air was a hose hooked to a compressor. The inert argon gas m ay or may not have contributed to Employee #1's death.
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 51 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 5
- Event type
- 12
- Source
- 43
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 14
- Environmental factor
- 18
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#981 Degree 0 Age 0
- Nature of injury
- 0
- Part of body
- 0
- Event type
- 0
- Source
- 0
- Occupation code
- 0
- Human factor
- 0
- Environmental factor
- 0
- Task assigned
- 0
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