Accident Report Detail
Accident: 202529558 - Employee Is Burned By Acid When Hose Separates
Accident: 202529558 -- Report ID: 0950664 -- Event Date: 07/10/2009 | |||||||
Inspection | Open Date | SIC | Establishment Name | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
309915569 | 07/13/2009 | 5191 | Crop Production Services | ||||
At 6:10 a.m. on July 10, 2009, Employee #1 (a yard supervisor) and a coworker (a helper) were preparing to unload a rail car of concentrated sulfuric acid into a storage tank at the employer's fertilizer distribution facility. The sulfuric acid was used in the manufacturing of fertilizer. Employee #1 was connecting the unloading hose to the top of the rail car. Before the unloading began, a connection between a flexible hose and an elbow on the unloading connection began leaking 98 percent sulfuric acid, under pressure. Two hose clamps failed to maintain the connection and the hose separated from the pipe elbow, spraying both employees. Both were treated at an eyewash/shower unit located within 20 feet of the point of contact. They were then taken to the burn center at the University of California, San Diego, 120 miles away, by car. Employee #1 was burned on the inner portion of both legs and received skin grafts to an area on his left thigh, where his protective clothing had failed. He was hospitalized for several days. The coworker was burned on the neck where acid struck him as he turned his head while evacuating the unloading platform. The coworker was treated and released. | |||||||
Keywords:
railroad tank car, equipment failure, hose, corrosive, chemical burn, mech mat handling, accidental discharge, pressure release, leg
| |||||||
Employee # | Inspection | Age | Sex | Degree | Nature | Occupation | |
1 | 309915569 | Hospitalized injury | Burn(Chemical) | Supervisors; handlers,equip-cleaners,laborers nec |