Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Ferrellgas, L.P., 6 South, EOLA, ILLINOIS 60519
on — Frostbite , affecting the Trunk and other upper extremities.
Final narrative
An employee was pumping liquid propane from a propane delivery truck to a storage tank. After the transfer was completed, the employee closed the valves and disconnected the transfer hose. During the transfer, the liquid propane auto-refrigerated the riser pipe of the storage tank and that delayed the vaporization of the propane. Upon reaching a higher temperature, liquified propane began rapidly expanding. Liquid propane then discharged from the pipe and contacted the employee, causing cold burns. The employee was hospitalized for second-degree burns to their torso and arms.
Hospitalized Trunk and other upper extremities Propane
An employee was connecting a hose to fill a propane cylinder. The flow of propane was activated when the filler nozzle was partially connected to the cylinder. The nozzle detached from the cylinder valve, causing expanding liquid propane to release through the nozzle. This caused the employee to lose his balance, spin, become entangled in the hose, and fall. He struck his head on the ground and suffered fractures to the temple and cheekbones, a laceration on the forehead, and a brain bleed. The employee was hospitalized.
On May 31, 2019, an employee was filling a propane gas cylinder used for forklifts when pressure from the nozzle came off of the propane cylinder and knocked him to the ground. He sustained a fracture to his right hip and was hospitalized.
An employee was removing a hose from a chemical tank after filling the tank with hexamethylenediamine (HMD). He checked the line to ensure that the hose was clear, then disconnected the hose at the connection. Residual chemical sprayed onto his face, causing a second-degree burn. He was hospitalized.
A shipping/receiving operator was working on a loading rack, loading a railcar. A 2-inch discharge cap failed and released pressure along with sulfuric acid from the railcar. The acid sprayed onto the employee, who suffered burns to the chest and the lower facial area. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was pressure washing truck scales when they were splashed with water and an unknown chemical on their leg and immediately experienced a burning sensation. The employee was hospitalized with a chemical burn and required surgery.
An employee was on a ladder disconnecting a 1-inch hose, known to have last carried acrylic acid that had been drained. When the hose was disconnected, residual acid dripped onto the employee's shoulder/arm area, causing a second-degree chemical burn.
Employees were removing scaffolding that was used to repair an ion exchange tank. The line was undergoing the regen process when a piece of scaffold struck a PVC pipe that transported hydrochloric acid (HCl). The injured employee was placing material inside a scaffold rack when he was sprayed in the face with HCl and sustained chemical burns to his eyes, face, chest, right arm, and left leg.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 454310)
An employee was connecting a hose to fill a propane cylinder. The flow of propane was activated when the filler nozzle was partially connected to the cylinder. The nozzle detached from the cylinder valve, causing expanding liquid propane to release through the nozzle. This caused the employee to lose his balance, spin, become entangled in the hose, and fall. He struck his head on the ground and suffered fractures to the temple and cheekbones, a laceration on the forehead, and a brain bleed. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was filling a motor fuel cylinder from a bobtail. When he opened the handle on the fill nozzle it popped off the filler valve and pushed him back into a rack where he struck his head on a cylinder cage. He sustained a laceration to the back left side of his head. While working to wrestle the hose to the ground, he sustained burns from liquid propane on the right side of his chest and right arm, and sustained minor burns on the left side.
An employee had been refueling empty propane tanks at a site. He drove back to the bulk plant facility and began to feel ill. The employee sustained dehydration due to heat.
A contract employee was working to free stuck wood from a pan on a firewood processing machine. The pan flipped up and struck the employee on the left side of their face, resulting in fractured facial bones.
An employee was changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.