Custodian Dies in a Confined Space in a Hospital Laundry

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Massachusetts Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Project (Massachusetts FACE) ; Massachusetts. Department of Public Health. Occupational Health Surveillance Program
• Description:
  A 33 year old man (victim) from the Dominican Republic died in a confined space in a hospital laundry. The victim was cleaning plastic debris off the inside of a laundry dryer with a chisel. He had entered the large industrial dryer through a small opening 25 inches by 40 inches propped open with a 2 by 4, and was not visible to other employees. The automated system was activated, delivering 200 pounds of wet laundry to this dryer, knocking the door closed, and beginning the 6 minute, heated drying cycle. The injuries sustained caused his death. The Department of Labor and Industries concluded that employers should take the following steps to prevent future similar occurrence: 1. Ensure that any machinery being cleaned or repaired is locked out or tagged out by the person doing the task. 2. Develop a confined space entry program with emergency rescue procedures, a permit system and a standby person assigned outside the confined space. 3. Reduce the need to enter a confined space for cleaning by eliminating or minimizing the delivery of inappropriate plastic materials to the washers and dryers. 4. Develop, implement and enforce a comprehensive safety program that includes at its core the training and direction of employees, in their own language, regarding safety and health hazards on the job.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Confined Spaces Maintenance Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace

  More +
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Confined-spaces Injuries Injury-prevention Machine-operation Maintenance-workers OSHA Region 1 Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Safety-programs Training Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Confined Space ; Foreign Born Workers
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE91MA002
• 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:
  1-3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028365
• 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 91MA002, 1992 Feb ; :1-3
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  62 - Health Care and Social Assistance - (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-512:2157465d33760ef55c7ba759f73869481124e6742517ca3c1a940359a3dd6606334f6e4bb70dc06a33209e704453076daa01ebf6abaa516a0e49eb79d0c94641
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166753/cdc_166753_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 132.55 KB ]