Inspection Detail

Inspection: 311066856 - Tesoro Refining And Marketing Company

Inspection Information - Office: High Hazard Unit - Central

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:30 a.m. on July 11, 2007, an employee was asked by a coworker to remove the broken pressure gauge on a 60 pound utility steam line at the Number 6 boiler. The employee used a 10-inch crescent wrench in an attempt to remove the nut below the broke pressure gage face. The 10-inch crescent wrench failed to move the nut. The employer was handed a hollow metal pipe by the coworker to be used as a cheater bar. A cheater bar was a pipe placed over the stem side of a wrench to create a greater length and created additional leverage to move a nut by the wrench. The additional leverage afforded with the cheater bar removed the nut. The broken pressure gage was removed. The employee replaced the pressure gage and attempted to tighten the nut associated with the pressure gage with the cheater bar. However, the hollow metal pipe making up the cheater bar slipped off the wrench, and the employee crashed backwards into nearby pump foundation. The employee suffered eight fractured bones in his right wrist. The employee was sent to Mt. Diablo Hospital for surgery.

Keywords: FRACTURE, CONSTRUCTION, FALL, WRIST