Inspection Detail

Inspection: 314408485 - Rust-Oleum Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

On April 28, 2010, Employee #1 was mixing a batch of paint for the spray can line. He had already added 2,593 pounds of acrylic resin, 1,644 pounds of xylene and a 20-pound bag of silica. He was in the process of adding 880 pounds of aluminum paste. The paste was dumped into the top of the tank. Each drum of aluminum paste weighed 220 pounds. As soon as the first drum was upended over the mixer loading port, a fireball erupted from the tank. Employee #1 was thrown back and he received 3rd degree burns to his face, shoulders, hands, and back. He also may have inhaled some of the hot air. He was airlifted to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Burn Center in critical condition. Several factors may have contributed to this incident. The drums of aluminum paste were not bonded and grounded during the dumping process; the ventilation system inside of the tank had not been turned on; Employee #1 was a temporary employee who was hired as a fork lift operator and not a mixer operator; he had only received training in forklift operations and lockout/tagout; he had not received training in evacuation procedures, flammable liquid handling, incident reporting, fire extinguishers, or PPE; he was wearing a nylon windbreaker and had dreadlocks which could have created a static spark; the mixer blades were on medium agitation, the liquid in the tank was approximately 4 feet below the opening and a layer of solvent vapor could have been in the tank and near the dumping port. This vapor apparently was ignited by a static spark from one or more of the above sources.

Keywords: BURN, SHOULDER, PPE, DRUM, SPRAY PAINTING, BACK, EXPLOSION, FACE, UNTRAINED, HAND