Sanitation worker dies when rescuing co-worker from underground sewer vault.

McKenzie, Lyle E.; McCammon, Jane B.; Hoffman, Richard E.

doi:10.26616/NIOSHSFACE91CO074

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i

Sanitation worker dies when rescuing co-worker from underground sewer vault.

1991/12/01
By McKenzie, Lyle E. ; McCammon, Jane B. ; Hoffman, Richard E.
Series: Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)

[PDF-16.12 KB]

English

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Details:

Personal Author:

McKenzie, Lyle E. ; McCammon, Jane B. ; Hoffman, Richard E.

McKenzie, Lyle E. ; McCammon, Jane B. ; Hoffman, Richard E. Less -
Corporate Authors:

Colorado Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (Colorado FACE) ; Colorado. Department of Public Health and Environment

Colorado Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (Colorado FACE) ; Colorado. Department of Public Health and Environment Less -
Description:

A 49-year old employee of a sanitation company died when he was overcome with hydrogen sulfide gas in an underground sewer vault. Two sanitation workers were assigned to clean the vault that served as a junction box for converging sewer lines. Employee #1 entered the vault to scrape a bar screen located at the far end of the vault. The bottom of the vault was covered with approximately two feet of sewage. Shortly after entering the vault employee #1 fell to the ground unconscious. Employee #2 witnessed his co-worker fall out and entered the vault to assist. He was able to revive employee #1 and drag him to the base of the ladder. Employee #1 was then able to exit the vault unassisted. He then checked on employee #2 and observed that he was unconscious. He obtained assistance from a local company in calling 911 and a deputy sheriff, two ambulances, and the local fire department responded. Rescue workers entered the vault and extracted employee #2 and attempted to revive him. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. The workers did not have any personal protective equipment other than gloves and waders. The vault was not tested prior to entry nor was any ventilation supplied. The Colorado Department of Health (CDH) investigator concluded that to prevent future similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Develop and implement a comprehensive written confined space safety program. 2. Provide lifelines and harnesses, and ensure that workers wear them when entering confined spaces. 3. Provide air testing equipment and train employees on the proper use and maintenance of the equipment. 4. Develop, implement, and enforce a written safety policy and safe work procedures designed to help workers recognize, understand and control hazards.
Content Notes:

Publication Date provided by FACE program; not printed on the report.
Subjects:

[+]

Accidents, Occupational Occupational Health Safety
Keywords:

[+]

Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Accidents Confined-spaces Gases Injuries Injury-prevention Maintenance-workers OSHA Region 8 Personal-protective-equipment Poison-gases Protective-equipment Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices
FACE - NIOSH and State:

All (0000) ; Confined Space (0004) ; Waste Management and Remediation Services (0027)

All (0000) ; Confined Space (0004) ; Waste Management and Remediation Services (0027) Less -
Series:

Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
Subseries:

State
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE91CO074
Publisher:

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Document Type:

Text
Funding:

Cooperative Agreement
Genre:

Field Study
Place as Subject:

Colorado ; OSHA Region 8

Colorado ; OSHA Region 8 Less -
CIO:

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Topic:

Workplace Safety & Health
Location:

North America
Pages in Document:

6 pdf pages
NIOSHTIC Number:

20028564
NTIS Accession Number:

PB2009-108095
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 91CO074, 1991 Dec; :1-6
CAS Registry Number:

Hydrogen sulfide (CAS RN 7783-06-4)
Federal Fiscal Year:

1992
Performing Organization:

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Peer Reviewed:

False
NAICS and SIC Codes:

56 - Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services - (NAICS 2022)
Start Date:

1992/09/30
End Date:

1997/09/29
Resource Number:

FACE-91CO074
Collection(s):

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Main Document Checksum:

[+]

urn:sha-512:a784e90d2388b272ddbfd1cdc8ed68ed5034980bb56bfd979e7fb9a303ffe90f52675c0f9e5531b74d9b3c8f5b3ebc19f695abf19db5c8aefec490fd5a2ef45f
Download URL:

https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166549/cdc_166549_DS1.pdf
File Type:

No Additional Files

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Sanitation worker dies when rescuing co-worker from underground sewer vault.

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