Inspection Detail

Inspection: 105425516 - Bowater, Inc., Carolina Division

Inspection Information - Office: Sc Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation

Investigation Summary

A CHLORINE REVAPORIZER FAILED, CAUSING THE RELEASE INTO THE ATMOSPHERE OF AN UNDETERMINED AMOUNT OF CHLORINE GAS. EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 ENTERED AN ELEVATOR IN AN ADJACENT BUILDING AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME AS THE CHLORINE RELEASE. THE EMPLOYEES NOTICED SMOKE AT THE THIRD FLOOR LEVEL ON THEIR WAY UP TO THE FOURTH FLOOR. THE ELEVATOR WAS EQUIPPED WITH A GLASS WINDOW AND A MANUAL DOOR. ONCE THEY HAD REACHED THE FOURTH FLOOR THE EMPLOYEES REALIZED THE "SMOKE" WAS ACTUALLY CHLORINE GAS. THEY CLOSED THE ELEVATOR'S MANUAL DOOR AND STARTED BACK DOWN. THEY DONNED CHEMICAL CANNISTER RESPIRATORS, STORED IN THE ELEVATOR CAR, WHEN THEY NOTICED THE CHLORINE GAS LEAKING INTO THE ELEVATOR CAR. ACIS GAS CANNISTERS WERE INSTALLED IN THE RESPIRATORS. WHEN BREATHING BECAME DIFFICULT THE EMPLOYEES PANICKED. THEN THE DOOR JAMMED ON THEM. THEY HAD TO USE AN AXE TO FORCE OPEN THE DOOR. BOTH EMPLOYEES WERE ADMITTED TO THE HOSPITAL AFTER FIRST AID TREATMENT AT THE SITE, SHOWING SYMPTOMS OF CHEMICAL PNEUMONIA. OTHER EMPLOYEES AT THE SITE WERE ABLE TO ESCAPE TO A SAFE DISTANCE WITHIN A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME. THE CAUSE OF THIS ACCIDENT WAS THOUGHT TO BE AN INTERACTION OF THE CHLORINE WITH THE METAL OF THE REVAPORIZER. TWENTY-SEVEN CONTRACT EMPLOYEES, EMPLOYED BY TWO SUBCONTRACTORS, WERE ALSO ON-SITE. NONE OF THE 27 REQUIRED HOSPITALIZATION.

Keywords: RESPIRATORY, INHALATION, CHLORINE, TOXIC FUMES, RESPIRATOR, RUPTURE, CHEMICAL