Inspection Detail

Inspection: 125866723 - Kaiser Cement Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Sacramento Mining & Tunneling District Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 had been cleaning at the fifth level of an open-sided steel tower for about 1 1/2 hours when he became ill from carbon monoxide exposure. He was transported to hospital, where he was treated and released. A weather pattern had created an inversion layer over the plant that prevented vented waste gases and fumes from dissipating in the upper atmosphere. These gases became trapped and concentrated in a downward moving layer of air until they reached Employee #1, who was working 70 ft above the ground. A coworker cleaning 10 to 12 ft below him was not affected.

Keywords: VAPOR, CLEANING, INHALATION, GAS, AIR CONTAMINATION, CHEMICAL VAPOR, OVEREXPOSURE, CARBON MONOXIDE