Massachusetts Plater Dies Following Hydrofluoric Acid Spill Exposure During Transfer Process

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Massachusetts Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Project (Massachusetts FACE) ; Massachusetts. Department of Public Health. Occupational Health Surveillance Program
• Description:
  A 37 year-old male Massachusetts plater (victim) died of complications following exposure to hydrofluoric acid. The victim was employed by a manufacturer of production control instruments for the oil and chemical industry. The victim and a co-worker were manually transferring the acid from a fifty-five gallon drum to a three gallon pail when the incident occurred. The workers were wearing only safety goggles and elbow-length rubber gloves for protection. During the transfer process, the three gallon pail was knocked from a makeshift table to the floor. Consequently, the acid splashed the victim's torso/arms region. Following emergency on-site showering and medical treatment, the victim was transported first to a community hospital and then to a regional medical center where he died several hours later. The Massachusetts FACE Investigator concluded that to prevent similar occurrences in the future, employers should: 1. Provide training for employees in hazard recognition and avoidance, and safe work practices including task-specific procedures. 2. Implement policies and procedures to ensure safe transfer of hazardous materials in a manner that eliminates or minimizes potential exposure. 3. Ensure that containers to and from which hazardous liquids are conveyed be as fully enclosed as possible to prevent or minimize unintentional escape if dropped or tipped over. 4. Investigate use of alternative less corrosive or non-corrosive materials. 5. Ensure that all appropriate personal protective equipment is provided and used during hazardous material handling operations.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Chemistry Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace

  More +
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Chemical-extraction Chemical-industry-workers Chemical-manufacturing-industry Chemical-properties Chemical-reactions Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 1 Personal-protection Personal-protective-equipment Protective-equipment Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Training Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE92MA019
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028388
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2008-102557
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 92MA019, 1993 Apr ; :1-4
• CAS Registry Number:
  Hydrofluoric acid, anhydrous (CAS RN 7664-39-3)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  31-33 - Manufacturing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1992/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:14b2a54e681c2ccf29dfff469a9db9cb563a7ea35ab236992fe26cb2f6fae5aced8e257a278cd2bc0799ec48790ed518819b6b12d93a3f065ad6aa922f120a15
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166731/cdc_166731_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 17.34 KB ]