Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300517885 - Worthington Hotel

Inspection Information - Office: Fort Worth Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was working alone in a chiller machine room in the basement of the facility. He entered a 46 in. deep machine pit used to house a pump motor and related electrical equipment for the chiller. Coworkers found him there in a sitting position in the corner of the pit, apparently having died of asphyxia from the release of freon 22 into the pit. A hose used by maintenance coworkers to charge the chiller with chlorodifluoromethane refrigerant (freon 22) was found next to Employee #1, disconnected at both ends. The hose led from the pit, across the basement floor, up the far wall, and through the ceiling to the parking garage, where the cylinders of freon that charged the chilling system were located. There was a manual shut-off valve at the top end of the hose, but there was no valve or other shut-off device at the lower end. The chiller refrigerant system was pressurized and no gross leaks were evident. Subsequent testing revealed no leaks of refrigerant from the system and no apparent electrical potential or current outside of normal operating specifications. According to the medical examiner, there was no evidence of cutaneous electric burns, and the cause of death was asphyxia from inhalation of freon. The conclusion was that the lower end of the hose became disconnected from the chiller motor and the freon in the hose discharged into the pit.

Keywords: MAINTENANCE, ASPHYXIATED, WORK RULES, INHALATION, FREON, GAS, SHUT-OFF VALVE, CHEMICAL VAPOR, CHEMICAL