Mechanic Asphyxiated Within Steam Service Passageway

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The case of a 35 year old male mechanic who died by asphyxiation after he attempted to regulate the pressure in an 8 inch steam line was examined. The worker was employed by a small utility company that generated and distributed steam. The company did not have a formal written safety program or written confined space entry procedures. Workers were instructed to work safely. The victim apparently was to reduce the pressure in an 8 inch steam line from about 150 to 30 pounds per square inch (psi). The steam line was located in a concrete vault measuring 10 feet deep by 9 feet wide and 15 feet long. The worker removed several sections of grating from the top of the vault, lowered a ladder and entered the vault. He apparently opened a hand operated valve on the 8 inch steam line. As the steam, at 366 degrees-F, surged through the line, the 4 inch strainer, located about 1 foot downstream of the 8 inch valve, ruptured. The worker proceeded down the passageway to escape the steam until he encountered a louvered door which could only be opened from the other side. The investigation showed that faulty engineering design, due to erroneous expansion and flexibility calculations, was a contributing factor in the rupture of the strainer. It was also determined that the employer should develop written safety procedures including safe entry to a confined space. Had the steam trap been in good working order, the pressure build up that eventually ruptured the valve would not have been possible.
• Content Notes:
  Publication date provided by the authoring office. There is no publication date indicated on the resource.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Confined Spaces Maintenance Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Confined-spaces FACE-87-64 Maintenance-workers Mechanics OSHA Region 3 Safety-research Work-practices
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Confined Space
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  NIOSH (In-House)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFACE8764
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  3 pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00186157
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB89-187900
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 87-64, 1988 Nov ; :1-5
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1989
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  22 - Utilities - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1987/07/25
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2095eb7bb52ac3541f21feeca8c341b67c40bcc0d23b2c7020e38e113b8a98421d8c85bcf79474432ca2b36c422f26cade1a0f4c88d81ec139280b033cd8f775
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164467/cdc_164467_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 238.48 KB ]