Accident: 170156251 - Burned By Overflowing Hot Water

Employee #1 was cleaning a mixing vessel used to make diaper rash ointment. A mixture of pressurized water and detergent is used in a closed system to clean the vessel. When Employee #1 opened the vessel's lid to determine if the level of detergent was at the top of the vessel, water overflowed and splashed over his head, face, and arms. Employee #1 sustained second-degree burns and needed skin grafts on his arms. A causal factor of the accident may have been the overheating of the solution; this is speculative because the temperature strip chart was missing. Another factor may have been that the pumps used to pump the solution may have been left on too long, causing the overflow. An overflow drain pipe on the vessel should have been used as an engineering control.

hot water, cleaning, heat, face, arm, burn, work rules, detergent, overheated, pump

Accident: 14528756 - Inhalation Of Noxious And Irritating Chemicals

THE BASEMENT AREA LAUNDRY ROOM AT THE VA HOSPITAL WAS SCHEDULED FOR CLOSING WITH ALL THE UNOPENED CONCENTRATED BLEACHES AND DETERGENTS TO BERETURNED TO THE MANUFACTURER. THERE REMAINED ONE OPEN 15 GAL CONTAINER OF SOUR "7" (PHOSPHORIC ACID) AND ONE OPEN 15 GAL CONTAINER OF DETERGENT101 (SODIUM HYPOCHLORITE AND CAUSTIC). EMPLOYEE # 1 EMPTIED ONE OF THE TWO CONTAINERS INTO A DRAIN IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED BY THE OTHER. ACCORDING TO THE FIRE DEPT AND POISON CONTROL CENTER THE RESULTING CHEMICAL REACTION GENERATED CHLORINE GAS, CAUSING THE BASEMENT AND 1ST FLOOR OF THE HOSPITAL TO BE EVACUATED. APPROX. 20 PEOPLE WERE AFFECTED BY THE GAS AND D WERE EXAMINED BY A DOCTOR. SEVEN WERE FURTHER EVALUATED WITH A BLOOD-GAS DETERMINATION AND THREE WERE ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL.

Keywords: chlorine, detergent, bleach, chemical reaction, phosphoric acid, sodium hypochlorite, caustic, air contamination