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Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 200340750 - Employee dies from overexposure to hydrogen sulfide gas

Accident Summary Nr: 200340750 -- Report ID: 0523900 -- Event Date: 11/01/2007
Inspection NrDate OpenedSICNAICSEstablishment Name
30704384411/02/20071623237110Midwest 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.

Keywords: CONFINED SPACE, HYDROGEN SULFIDE, CONSTRUCTION, INHALATION, AIR CONTAMINATION, CHEMICAL VAPOR, OVEREXPOSURE, CHEMICAL
Accident Details
End Use Project Type Project Cost Stories Non-building Height Fatality
Excavation, landfill Maintenance or repair Under $50,000 X

Employee Details
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

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