OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #221580202

SAMUEL, SON & CO (USA) INC.

LEBANON, VA— 2023-07-12T00:00:00

Event: Air Pressure, Blunt force, Blunt force trauma, Explosion, Flying Object, Grinding Machine, High Pressure, Lockout, Lockout/Tagout, Metal, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Struck By, Supervisor, Tank, Testing
NAICS: 331221
Inspection type: Federal Agency
Activity number: #346828429
Employer profile: SAMUEL, SON & CO (USA) INC.
Summary number: 221580202
Report ID: 0355110

Event description

Employee is killed from multiple trauma when air tank explod

Investigation abstract

At 9:20 a.m. on July 12, 2023, an employee working as a supervisor was testing for leaks in a tank at a leak test station. Tanks are laid on their side for leak tests. The top of the tank faced the pressure test chamber, and the bottom faced the opposite direction. The employee began grinding on a round seam weld so that a leak could be repaired. The employee was grinding while the tank was still pressurized for the leak test. The tank exploded at the bottom and the metal that flew off struck the employee. The employee died from massive multiple blunt trauma.

Victim

#1 Fatality Age 51 M

Event type
1

Occupation code
558

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.