Abstract: At approximately 5:45 p.m. on May 7, 1988, Employee #1 went inside a 6,500 gallon tank car to clean it. He was using a scraper to remove stuck on, paint-like residue from the sides of the tank. Employee #1 left the tank car to retrieve a cleaning solvent called Presolve 1900 that would speed up this time-consuming process. He went back down into the tank car and began swishing the solvent on the sides of the tank. A few minutes later, Employee #1 was overcome by solvent vapors and passed out. The standby man was washing the tank's exterior. It took him 5 to 7 minutes to wash one side of the tank car, during which time he had no communication with Employee #1. After he had finished washing one side of the tank, he went to the top of the tank to check on Employee #1, who he found lying at the bottom of the tank car. The standby went to get help. Company personnel entered the tank and pulled Employee #1 out. Emergency help arrived and Employee #1 was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for asphyxiation and chemical burns to his back and then released. Employee #1 was not wearing either a safety harness and gear or a respirator. In addition, he did not test the tank's atmosphere for oxygen deficiency before he entered and was not in immediate and constant communication with the standby man.