Contact with hot objects or substances · Heat (thermal) burns, unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Valero Port Arthur Refinery, 1801 South Gulfway Drive, PORT ARTHUR, TEXAS 77640
on — Heat (thermal) burns, unspecified, affecting the thigh(s).
Final narrative
An employee was clearing a steam hose in a sulfur recovery unit. The hose sprayed the employee with hot condensate, causing steam burns to the thigh area.
An employee connected a steam line to a hose to clean equipment when the fitting broke loose. They were struck by steam in the left inner thigh, resulting in burns that required hospitalization.
An employee was making tea when she noticed tea grinds were collecting on the side and water was no longer dripping through the funnel. The employee was checking the funnel when boiling water and tea grinds spilled onto the left side of her body. The employee sustained burns to her neck, back, and arm.
An employee had turned off the ball valve on a waterpipe system and was removing the plug when the coupling system attached to the strainer came apart. Hot water sprayed on his arm and back, resulting in first- and second-degree burns that required surgery.
An employee was using a shovel to remove waste vermiculite from molten zinc. The metal had been placed in a bin and partially hardened. The employee broke through the partially hardened metal; still-molten metal flowed to the employee's steel-toed right boot and entered through the cloth boot tongue. The employee suffered a third-degree burn to the right foot and was hospitalized.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 324191)
An employee was putting together cardboard boxes in order to ship a product while a nearby forklift was grabbing a quarter-full tote from a rack that was 12 feet high. The forklift pushed the tote off the pallet rack and it struck the employee, resulting in broken ribs.
An employee was operating a spout machine when a spout became jammed on the spout piston. The employee opened the enclosed plexiglass protective enclosure around the machine to gain access to the jammed spout located on the crimping piston. The employee was unjamming the spout under the transfer table when her right index finger was crushed. The employee suffered an amputation to her fingertip.
An employee was moving 55-gallon oil drums from a pallet on a forklift to a pallet on the floor. One of the oil drums collided with another oil drum, contacting the employee's left middle finger and causing a fingertip amputation.
An employee was removing a cap from a pressurized line. The end cap came off the line and struck the employee's jaw, causing a laceration and fracture on the left side.
After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.
An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.
An employee was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.