Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126200245 - California Custom Fruits & Flavors Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Monrovia District Office

Investigation Summary

At 10:15 a.m. on May 24, 2012, Employee #1 was a cold storage worker, who had been employed at California Fruits and Flavors, Incorporated, a supplier of fruits and flavor ingredients, since May 23, 2011. At 9 a.m. Employee #1 was in the shipping and receiving area. Shortly he left the area on a forklift to bring out tote containers to fill an order. Shortly, he brought out and lined up four tote containers in the shipping and receiving area. The stainless steel tote container was manufactured by Spartanburg and its dimension was 6 feet tall by 5 feet in diameter. Its capacity was 225 gallon with a maximum working pressure of 14.9 psi. The relief pressure of valve is 18.85 - 21.76 psi and the maximum working pressure of the tote container is 14.9 psi. The delivery pressure of nitrogen gas was set at 14 psi. The tote container was filled with liquefied vanilla food flavors at the time of accident. The pressure relief valve had been sent to the National Board Pressure Relief Valve Department for testing. The accident was caused because the pressure relief valve did not open. Employee #1 started pressurizing the tote containers at 9:57 a.m. He used a step ladder to access the top of the tote container to pressurize them. First Employee #1 pressurized two tote containers with nitrogen gas by feeding nitrogen gas from a cylinder into the tote container until the pressure relief valve opened, indicating the tote container was full. Employee #1 checked the pressure inside the tote container by inserting a pressure gauge. Then, he checked the pressure of the third and fourth tote containers using the pressure gauge and began to pressurize the third tote container with nitrogen while standing on the step ladder. Suddenly, the lid of the tote container blew off, and the metal bolts and clips that were securing the lid flew out and cut Employee #1's left neck. The lid itself flew 15 feet in the air and got embedded in the wall. Employee #1 sustained a one-inch laceration on the neck and bruises on his right forearm and he was transported to the LA County USC Medical Center by the paramedics, where he underwent surgery to remove a metal fragment from his left neck on the same day, and he was discharged the next afternoon.

Keywords: STEPLADDER, GAS, NITROGEN, EXPLOSION, LACERATION, BOLT, VALVE, NECK, STRUCK BY, FLYING OBJECT