Accident Report Detail
Accident Summary Nr: 200340750 - Employee dies from overexposure to hydrogen sulfide gas
Inspection Nr | Date Opened | SIC | NAICS | Establishment Name |
---|---|---|---|---|
307043844 | 11/02/2007 | 1623 | 237110 | Midwest Boring & Underground, Inc. |
Abstract: At approximately 5:30 p.m. on November 1, 2007, Employee #1, of Midwest Boring & Underground, Inc., was assisting another company with replacing a sump pump in an underground lift station which collected draining and leached water from a construction debris landfill. Three employees of the other company entered the lift station and were overcome by exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas. Employee #1 entered the lift station to assist or rescue the three workers when he, too, was overcome. Employee #1 was killed. Rescue services arrived at the scene and performed air quality monitoring, which revealed that all four workers were exposed to concentrations of up to 200 ppm of hydrogen sulfide gas. The lift station was determined to be a permit-required confined space. The other company, which was the host employer, had not evaluated the lift station to determine whether it was a permit-required space. Neither employee had developed and implemented a written permit space program.
End Use | Project Type | Project Cost | Stories | Non-building Height | Fatality | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Excavation, landfill | Maintenance or repair | Under $50,000 | X |
Employee # | Inspection Nr | Age | Sex | Degree of Injury | Nature of Injury | Occupation | Construction |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 307043844 | Fatality | Asphyxia | Occupation not reported | Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Installing plumbing, lighting fixtures Fatality Cause: Asphyxiation/inhalation of toxic vapor |