Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300758810 - Jose Mendoza

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was at a truck repair shop owned and operated by his uncle, the sole proprietor. He was not a licensed car repair contractor, but was a part-time worker who would come to the shop when he did not have outside contracts. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 was using a torch to cut a used 55-gallon drum that he planned to make into a barbecue grill. He was standing in front of the drum, cutting its top portion at the junction of the top cover and the body, preparing to proceed down through the length of it. A few seconds later, the drum bulged like a bag of microwavable popcorn. Employee #1 instantly dropped the torch and turned to run. The top cover blew out, striking him and pushing him up and back before flying toward the roof. Employee #1 suffered severe lacerations on the right side of his chest and face, including the area around his eye. He was transported to a local hospital and, because he had no worker's compensation insurance coverage, was left untreated until medical personnel found an institution that was willing to attend to him for research purposes. The three days he spent in the hospital without appropriate care resulted in the loss of his right eye. The main causal factor of the accident was failure to vent, purge, and clean the vessel before starting hot work. A partially worn-out label on the drum indicated that it had once contained hexane, a flammable liquid.

Keywords: EYE, VENTILATION, WORK RULES, DRUM, EXPLOSION, STRUCK BY, CHEMICAL VAPOR, FLYING OBJECT, CUTTING AND BURNING, HEXANE