UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At 6:30 a.m. on November 3, 2021, an employee was working for a country governme nt agency that provided bus transportation for schools and employees. He worked as a bus, truck, and stationary engine mechanic. He was filling a 300-gallon (1, 140-liter) tote with water from an outside fire hydrant. He was going to wash th e buses on the lot. This was a weekly operation. The employee had been washing t he buses for ten years. Due to cost, the agency had acquired the tote off Craigs list. Workers had used the tote about thirty times in the year since it had been bought. The tote had been used by a previous owner to hold UN 1760 foaming grea se cleaner detergent. It has also been used by a food company to hold old food a nd storage items. The agency had never cleaned it, and there was a collection of brown waste material that remained inside, sticking to the interior of the cont ainer. It was thought that this might have been the result of dirt and rust from the fire hydrant. As the tote was being filled, it ruptured near the outlet val ves. Water sprayed into the employee's face, pushing him backward onto the concr ete surface. The employee hit the back of his head on the street or floor. He su ffered severe lacerations and contusions. He was hospitalized.