Inspection Detail

Inspection: 300778826 - Tomco Auto Products Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:30 a.m. on January 17, 2002, Employee #1, a 16-year veteran shop supervisor with Tomco Auto Products, was in the cleaning department of Tomco Auto parts near the Roto-Jet model number 5 washing machine. This machine was used to clean carburetors with a 30/1 detergent (Powerblast) and water solution that was heated between 150 and 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Because the machine had been turned off approximately 3 hours before the accident, a precise temperature of the water could not be determined. The machine had to be cleaned and Employee #1 direct supervisor and coworkers were in the process of pumping the detergent solution out by removing a pipe elbow at the filter housing and connecting a 1.25-inch-inner-diameter rubber hose to the pipe so that the liquid could be transferred to other containers. The hose was fastened to the pipe with a screw clamp and run through a hole in a nearby wall in order to reach the containers. When one of the containers was almost full, the valve was turned off so that the containers could be switched. Both coworkers proceeded to switch the containers after which it was necessary to turn the valve back on. On coworker instructed the other to hold the hose at the container end and he would turn the valve back on. Overhearing that the valve needed to be turned on, Employee #1 offered to do it since he was headed in that direction. Employee #1 was not assigned to help clean the machine and had not done so in the past apart from past supervision of its cleaning. After turning the valve on, both coworkers told him that nothing was coming out so Employee #1 turned to see the end of the hose from where the solution was supposed to be flowing. Approximately 30 seconds later, the hose became detached from the pipe, spraying Employee #1 with the hot water and detergent solution. After the accident occurred, one coworker discovered that the hose had become kinked at the point where it was run through the wall. Employee #1 was initially taken to US Healthworks. He was subsequently transferred to an East Los Angeles hospital and finally to Grossman Burn Center in the Sherman Oaks Hospital Sherman Oaks, California, where he remained for 22 days and was treated for first-, second-, and third-degree burns over 12 percent of his lower legs. The accident was caused by the rubber hose connected to the filter housing pipe was not adequately secured to prevent it from disengaging. Furthermore, the hose became kinked, increasing pressure in the hose. None of the employees involved was aware that the hose had become kinked.

Keywords: BURN, CLEANING, HOSE, LOCKOUT, PRESSURE RELEASE, HIGH TEMPERATURE, HOT WATER, LEG