Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 170758122 - Two employees injured when toluene ignites and explodes

Accident Summary Nr: 170758122 -- Report ID: 0454716 -- Event Date: 01/18/1997
Inspection Nr	Date Opened	SIC	NAICS	Establishment Name
120523428	01/19/1997	2295	0	Cantech Industries Inc

Abstract: At approximately 11:00 a.m. on January 18, 1997, Employees #1 and #2 were operating a tape machine when toluene, which had built up in the system, was ignited by static electricity or another source. This triggered an explosion, injuring both employees. The weather was extremely cold that day and some of the transfer valves in the toluene reclaim system were frozen at the beginning of the 8:00 a.m. shift. As a result, the tape machine was in operation before the reclaim system. This could have caused the toluene to accumulate above the legal explosive limit (lel).

Keywords: STATIC ELECTRICITY, FLAMMABLE VAPORS, WORK RULES, GAS, TOLUENE, EXPLOSION, VALVE, FROZEN, CHEMICAL

Employee Details
Employee #	Inspection Nr	Age	Sex	Degree of Injury	Nature of Injury	Occupation
1	120523428			Non Hospitalized injury	Bruise/Contus/Abras	Machine operators, not specified
2	120523428			Non Hospitalized injury	Bruise/Contus/Abras	Machine operators, not specified

Thank You for Visiting Our Website

You are exiting the Department of Labor's Web server.

The Department of Labor does not endorse, takes no responsibility for, and exercises no control over the linked organization or its views, or contents, nor does it vouch for the accuracy or accessibility of the information contained on the destination server. The Department of Labor also cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked Web sites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked Web site. Thank you for visiting our site. Please click the button below to continue.