Assemblyman dies from injuries received in the failure of a gasket during a hydrostatic test.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Archer, Pam ; Mallonee, Sue
• Corporate Authors:
  Oklahoma Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (OKFACE) ; Oklahoma. State Department of Health ; Oklahoma. Injury Prevention Service
• Description:
  A 43-year-old assemblyman died on May 26, 1999 from chest injuries he received earlier that day when struck by a high pressure water jet emitted after the failure of a gasket during a hydrostatic test of a cooling coil for an air cooled heat exchanger. At the time of the incident the victim was part of a two-man team conducting the hydrostatic test at a heat exchanger manufacturing company. The laborer was positioned on a stepladder near the heat exchanger coil manifold to close an isolation valve on the pressure line connected to the manifold flange when the gasket failed, releasing a high pressure water jet in the direction of the worker. The water struck the assemblyman in the chest knocking him approximately 20 feet off the end of a loading dock onto the concrete drive below. Another employee nearby immediately contacted 911 by mobile phone and the victim was evacuated by helicopter to a local hospital where he died from injuries sustained in the incident. Face investigators concluded that, to help prevent similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Incorporate specific safe work practices into the work instructions for setting up and conducting hydrostatic testing, and train workers in those practices ; 2. Provide the proper materials and equipment for use in performing high-risk work ; 3. Analyze or otherwise investigate critical system failures and take corrective action to prevent future occurrences ; and 4. Provide barrier protection for employees who must work in close proximity to potentially weak points in the hydrostatic test system or provide a remote control to physically separate the employee from the high-risk area.
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidents
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Air Conditioning
  • Occupational Health
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Safety
  • Safety Management
  • Workplace
• Keywords:
  • OSHA Region 6
  • Accident-analysis
  • Accident-prevention
  • Accidents
  • Injuries
  • Injury-prevention
  • Traumatic-injuries
  • Work-operations
  • Work-analysis
  • Work-areas
  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE99OK018
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Oklahoma ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20027740
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2010-114206
• 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 99OK018, 2000 Apr ; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2000
• Performing Organization:
  Oklahoma State Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  31-33 - Manufacturing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1997/07/01
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Resource Number:
  FACE-99OK018
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/167061/cdc_167061_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 467.97 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:8b8dd9d8593b72a27e2fe48c9782a5e2b190bb606464dffc308ca68fb9f7774fff01859ed55e2f8b11ade54d5c587f04e911612e33056957cc4f51c7e9501707