Abstract: At 8:50 a.m. on January 9, 2017, an employee was working for a firm that wholesaled recyclable materials. The employer bought and sold scrap metals and other items in southern California. The facility where the employee worked was a large commercial open or outdoor yard. It had a receiving area where pieces of metal scrap from the petrochemical and other industries were brought in and processed. The facility also had an office building and an indoor machine shop shed area. The employee was working as a permanent, full-time employee at the time of the incident. The yard supervisor, who was also the employee's immediate supervisor, was at the yard at the time of the incident. The employee was using a Victor oxygen and propane gas open flame cutting torch. It was attached to a 22.8-meter (75-foot) hose line, color-coded red for fuel and green for oxygen. He was in an outdoor area, in the northeast part of the yard facility. Immediately prior to the incident, the employee had torch-cut several metal pipes lying in the area. He then began cutting a Hydril pulsation dampener. The spherical pulsation dampener consisted of two sections held together by 36 stud bolts. The employee began torch-cutting along the seam. This action caused the buildup of ignitable or flammable vapors within the dampener. He had cut 12 of the 36 stud bolts, when the dampener exploded. The vapors had caught fire, and the dampener ripped apart along the seam. The employee sustained multiple bodily fractures, a laceration to his abdomen, an injury to his left shoulder, and ruptures in the skin of his left upper and lower leg. The paramedics transported the employee to the medical center, for treatment. Surgeries were performed. Later on, he was hospitalized in Loma Linda University Medical Center, and he was discharged on March 29, 2017. The firm's manager of operations and safety compliance reported the incident to the San Bernardino District Office at 1:10 p.m. on January 9, 2017. The employer reported the serious injury accident in a timely manner and met the Division's reporting requirements. An inspector from the District office arrived at the facility and opened an inspection with the firm's owner and the employer's attorney at approximately 8:45 a.m on January 10, 2017. During the interview, the employee stated that the firm's owner had assigned him the job of torch cutting all materials to be cut, including the pulsation dampener. It was thought that the employer had failed to make certain that the pulsation dampener did not contain any hazardous flammable substance or could build up pressure that would render it unsafe during salvage operations. Such operations would have included open flame torch cutting, crushing, and cutting by shear machines.