Inspection Detail

Inspection: 312677164 - Daniel Rodriguez, Painter

Inspection Information - Office: San Diego District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 11, 2009, Employee #1, a 50-year-old male painter and Employee #2, a 26-year-old male helper were working at a home in Escondido. The worksite was a private, one-story single family residence and the employees were hired by the homeowner to paint the inside of a laundry room and to stain and finish cabinets that had been installed by a carpenter. Employee's #1 and #2 began the work at the job site on February 10 2009. On February 11, 2009 starting around 11:30 a.m. Employee's #1 and #2 began spraying a lacquer coating on wood cabinets inside the laundry room. Employee #2 stayed outside on the porch and handed materials into Employee #1 as needed. The door into the house from the laundry room was closed, and the door from the laundry room to the outside porch had been removed. There was no additional ventilation brought into the room, and there were live outlets, switches, and overhead lights inside the room. Some of the shelves were painted outside and dried on the porch. The air compressor used to power the spray gun was plugged into an outlet inside the room, but the compressor was outside on the porch. The employee #2 saw the compressor sparking, and soon thereafter the vapor in the room where Employee #1 was spraying was ignited, causing a flash fire. Employee #1 was burned over ninety percent of his body. Employee #2 was burned on his arm in the first flash, and then on his face as he attempted to put out the fire with a garden hose. Employee #1 was transported to UCSD Burn Unit where he died from the burns on February 14, 2009. Employee #2 was also hospitalized at UCSD Burn Unit where he underwent treatment for burns to his left arm and the side of his face.

Keywords: BURN, FLAMMABLE VAPORS, FIRE, SPRAY PAINTING, SPARK, ARM, FACE, PAINTER, ELEC PORT TOOL--MISC