Accident: 200370245 - Employees Overcome By Exposure To Hydrogen Sulfide

Some employees were installing a French drain system to collect water seeping from a slurry pond. The employees were entering the catch basin to do the final touch-up work by riding the bucket of a backhoe down into the basin. One of the employees, a 57-year old supervisor, was engulfed by vapors that were later found to be hydrogen sulfide. He died of inhalation of toxic fumes. Four other employees were hospitalized for exposure to the hydrogen sulfide.

toxic fumes, backhoe, hydrogen sulfide, confined space, inhalation, construction, elec utility work

Accident: 170132419 - Injured In Fall Into Confined Space Pit

At 12:45 p.m. on June 6, 1998, Employee #1 was acting as a safety monitor for a confined space entry team. The team leader had ensured that the space was suitable for entry and then opened a 3 ft 5 in, square trapdoor. He filled in the necessary paperwork for re-entry and gave it to Employee #1 to review and sign. While he was reading the entry permit, Employee #1 took a couple of steps toward the open trapdoor and fell approximately 7 ft 10 in. through it to the floor. He was sustained head lacerations that required 40 stitches to close, a broken finger, a concussion, and short-term memory loss.

fall, inattention, head, concussion, confined space, laceration, pit, finger

Accident: 200710473 - Fell Off Damper Blade Into Duct System

Two electric utility employees used a ladder to climb down into a bypass damper at an electric power generation plant. The employer required fall protection in this permit-required confined space, but the employees could not access horizontal lifelines until they were in the space. One of the two employees observed a wooden board on the damper blades and thought that it would be useful for the task to be done. His coworker agreed. Before the coworker could warn the first employee to tie-off, the damper blade the first employee was standing on rotated, and he fell about 12.2 meters into the duct system below. He died of injuries sustained in the fall.

fall, fall protection, elec utility work, rotating parts, confined space, inattention, unstable position

Accident: 14318000 - Dies Of Asphyxia In Oxygen-Deficient Atmosphere

Employee #1 entered a 4,000 gallon kettle that contained nitrogen. He was wearing a half-mask organic vapor respirator that did not adequately protect him from the oxygen-deficient atmosphere, and he died of asphyxia. The company claimed to have a confined space entry program; however, the program was in paper form only. The fill-in-the-blank style had not been completed and designations as to entrants, attendants, or supervisors were left blank. Testing and monitoring equipment was not provided to employees to test the atmosphere before or during a confined space entry. Emergency rescue equipment was not provided for the entrant or for any other employee attempting a rescue. No permits were provided for employees, and no procedure for completing permits was in place.

work rules, inhalation, oxygen deficiency, work rules, confined space, asphyxiated, respirator, ppe, air line respirator

Accident: 896365 - Dies Of Asphyxia In Manhole

At approximately 2:08 p.m. on June 13, 1997, Employee #1 and a coworker, water department workers, removed the manhole cover to an 8 ft deep meter pit to confirm the size of the water main. Employee #1 entered the pit by descending a set of ladder rungs along its side. Once his head was below the ground surface, he called out the size of the main to the coworker, who remained outside the pit. The coworker stated that Employee #1 then immediately collapsed and fell to the bottom of the pit. He was removed by the coworker and other employees by means of a rope looped around the his foot. Attempts to revive Employee # 1 were unsuccessful; he died of asphyxia. Meter readings taken at a later time indicated 12.8 percent oxygen in the pit.

asphyxiated, pit, fall, work rules, air monitoring, manhole, oxygen deficiency, confined space, scba