Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312911985 - Ups Freight

Inspection Information - Office: Fresno District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 2:45 a.m. on April 24, 2009, Employee #1, and #2 were involved in activities for United Parcel Service Freight, a package processing and delivery company in Fresno, CA. Employee #1 was working on the loading dock downwind from a truck trailer being unloaded by another coworker. The coworker had unloaded six cardboard boxes containing four one-gallon glass bottles of dichloromethane, also known as methylene chloride. The boxes were placed unsecured on top of other pallet of secured material. When the coworker attempted to move the pallet, the boxes fell on the dock, causing the 16 bottles to break and spilling dichloromethane on the dock. The coworker immediately moved upwind from the spill towards the dock office and alerted Employee #1, a dock supervisor. Employee #1 moved from an upwind location towards the dock office, but she was briefly exposed to the methylene chloride vapors. Employee #1 suffered an acute reaction of transitory eye irritation. Without any aid of personal protective equipment, Employee #2 responded to the spill scene and identified the spilled material. His duration of exposure was less than ten minutes; however, it was long enough to cause her some nonserious adverse health effects, such as dizziness, eye irritation, and vomiting.

Keywords: RESPIRATORY, PPE, UNSECURED, PALLET, SPILL, CHEMICAL VAPOR