UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

At approximately 1:30 p.m. on March 15, 1991, Employees #1 and #2 and a coworker were in a second-floor paint room of building #1 at General Electric (GE) Appliance Park in Columbia, MD. GE had shut down operations in this building approximately one year earlier. The employees were salvaging useable metal in this room, which had residual amounts of powdered paint on the floor, walls, and electrical boxes.. Employee #1 was removing conduit from the top of an N-480/2N volt, 600 amp, 3-phase GE panel box when a spark from the electrical box ignited the powdered paint. Employee #1's clothing became engulfed in flames and he suffered burns over 30 percent of his body. Employee #2 and the coworker were installing a cover on another panel box next to Employee #1 when the fire erupted. Employee #2 was burned when he tried to put out the fire. The paint is explosive as a suspension in the air. Power to the panel box had not been cut off prior to beginning work.