Inspection Detail

Inspection: 123156135 - Allied Restoration Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Bridgeport Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:00 a.m. on July 25, 2005, Employee #1 and coworkers were working on a roof. Employee #1 was in charge of attending to a kettle that contained hot tar, while most of the coworkers were on the roof. The kettle was a portable piece of equipment that is equipped with LPG fueled heaters. Solid pieces of tar that were delivered to the jobsite are loaded into the kettle and heated into a liquid tar. It took approximately three hours for the solid tar to become liquid and during this process, the motor and pump on the kettle operated in order to circulate the tar through the kettle. The liquefied tar was pumped through a closed piping system to the roof area. When the pump was not delivering hot tar to the roof area, the pump continues to operate and a diverter was used to recirculate the hot tar through the kettle. This recirculation was conducted in order to prevent the tar from settling on the bottom of the kettle. The diverter valve was manually operated through an accessible handle located on the valve and diverted the hot tar between circulating through the kettle and up to the roof area, dependent on the needs of the workers. As the kettle was in recirculation mode, without notifying Employee #1, one of the coworkers walked over to the pipe that supplies tar to the roof and pulled on a rope that was connected to the diverter valve. This action should have allowed the hot tar in the kettle to be diverted to the roof; however, the motor shut down. Employee #1 was thought that there was a clog in the pipe and used an LPG fueled fired heating torch to heat the pipe between the kettle and the roof pipe. As he heated the pipe, standing approximately one foot from the kettle, the diverter valve cap was ejected and sprayed Employee #1 with hot tar. Employee #1 ran over to the water hose and drenched himself with cold water. Nearby coworkers came to Employee #1's aid and emergency services were called. Employee #1 was transported to the Bridgeport Hospital, where he was hospitalized and treated for second- and third-degree burns to his hands and face. During an interview with Employee #1, he stated that he had used the kettle approximately two weeks before the incident with no problems.

Keywords: BURN, ROOF, POT, EQUIPMENT FAILURE, HOT ASPHALT, STRUCK BY, FACE, FALLING OBJECT, HOT TAR, HAND