Inspection Detail

Occupational Safety and Health Administration OSHA

Inspection: 301125209 - Kern Oil And Refining Company

Inspection Information - Office: Ca Concord (Psm N.)

Nr: 301125209	Report ID: 0950627	Open Date: 06/28/2006

Kern Oil And Refining Company
7724 East Panama Lane Bakersfield, CA 93307		Union Status: NonUnion
SIC: 2911/Petroleum Refining
NAICS: 324110/Petroleum Refineries

Inspection Type:	Accident
Scope:	Partial	Advanced Notice:	N
Ownership:	Private
Safety/Health:	Safety	Close Conference:	08/10/2006
		Close Case:	12/01/2007

Related Activity:	Type	ID	Safety	Health
	Accident	362329880

Violation Summary
	Serious	Willful	Repeat	Other	Unclass	Total
Initial Violations	1					1
Current Violations	1					1
Initial Penalty	$6,750	$0	$0	$0	$0	$6,750
Current Penalty	$280	$0	$0	$0	$0	$280
FTA Amount	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0

Violation Items
	#	ID	Type	Standard	Issuance	Abate	Curr$	Init$	Fta$	Contest	LastEvent
	1.	01001	Serious	3329 D	07/13/2006	07/23/2006	$280	$6,750	$0	07/26/2006	F - Formal Settlement

	Inspection		Degree	Nature	Occupation
Accident Investigation Summary
Summary Nr: 201488566		Event: 06/22/2006	Refinery Worker Is Burned When Steam Escapes Past Blockage
On June 22, 2006, Employee #1 was working as a refinery worker at the Kern Oil & Refinery Company just outside Bakersfield, California. He was attempting to remove a blockage from the South Born Pass crude oil regulator valve. The regulator had previously been isolated from the crude oil stream, and steam at 180 psi had been routed to the regulator body through a steam pipe containing a bleeder valve. Normally, the steam would have exited into another steam pipe with a bleeder valve on the upstream side of the regulator. On the day of the accident, however, the steam failed to pass through and then exit the body of the regulator. Employee #1 found a wire and jammed it into the exit steam pipe, past the bleeder valve and into the blockage. He thought he had closed down the exit bleeder valve to a large degree to prevent a sudden release of hot material. He had not, though. As Employee #1 worked on the blockage with the wire, the blockage released, causing significant quantities of hot steam and crude oil to spray on the ground. Employee #1, adjacent to the release of hot oil and steam and with one knee on the ground, was immediately surrounded by a cloud of steam. He sustained second- and third-degree burns over approximately twenty-two percent of his body. The burns were confined primarily to his legs. He was hospitalized. Causal factors include the failure to have a safe, written procedure for removing crude oil blockages and failure to close down the bleeder valve on the steam exit line before attempting to dislodge the blockage.
Keywords: burn, steam line, jammed, steam, crude oil, pipeline, valve, pressure release, refinery, leg
1	301125209		Hospitalized injury	Burn/Scald(Heat)	Miscellaneous plant and system operators

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