Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312430358 - C.L. Knox Dba Advanced Industrial Services

Inspection Information - Office: Van Nuys District Office

Investigation Summary

At around 4:00 p.m., on December 5, 2008, Employee #1, a vacuum truck driver, suffered second and third degree burns to the left ankle and foot due to hot water splashing onto his left leg and down his boot. Employee #1 was driven by the project manager on site to Memorial Occupational Medicine (Vernon Sorenson, M.D.) in Bakersfield, California for medical treatment. Additional treatment required four-day hospitalization at Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks, California. The facility involved in the accident was a medium size company employing 85 persons engaged in oilfield and industrial plant maintenance services including transport of oil products. The injured employee had been working there for twenty-one months, performing duties of a vacuum truck driver, including transporting oil and other oilfield liquid material. At the time of the accident, he was performing a regularly assigned task of transporting oily water onto the clients' site in the attempt to clean out the tank. Employee #1, the vacuum truck driver, had pulled onto the clients' site where a couple of sumps were located. The sumps are used to dispose of water containing petroleum and other by-products. Employee #1 went up to the sump, turned the truck around, brought the rear of the truck towards the sump, and got off the truck and connected a six inch hose to the cam lock. He then placed hose under a chain link fence within a concave section of dirt, which allowed the hose to incline downward beyond the fence line. He then went into the cab of truck and turned the pump on to pressurize the tank up to 18 PSI, to ensure a flow of liquid. Then he stood by the end of truck speaking to a coworker, who works for the same employer. While both employees were chatting, the end of the hose whipped out and towards Employee #1 and splashed him with hot water. The temperature of the water was about 138-140 degrees Fahrenheit. The water splashed Employee #1's left leg. Hot water then rolled down Employee #1's boot onto his ankle. At this moment, the coworker ran towards the truck and turned the valve off stopping the flow of water. The injured employee was working with another truck driver working for the same company. Interviews were conducted of the supervisor on site, company safety and health director, and the injured worker. The investigation concluded that there was no violation of Title 8 safety orders; consequently no citations were issued other than one general violation of CCR, Title 8, GISO 3203 (a),

Keywords: BURN, FOOT, HOT WATER