Worker Killed in Compressed Air Explosion at a Tire Retread Plant

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bost, Patrick ; Bresnitz, Eddy A. ; Ludwig, Gary ; O'Hagan, Emily ; Schill, Donald P. ; Valiante, David J. ; Bost, Patrick ; Bresnitz, Eddy A. ; Ludwig, Gary ; O'Hagan, Emily ; Schill, Donald P. ; Valiante, David J.
• Corporate Authors:
  New Jersey Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Project (NJ FACE) ; New Jersey. Department of Health and Senior Services. Occupational Health Service ; New Jersey Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Project (NJ FACE) ; New Jersey. Department of Health and Senior Services. Occupational Health Service
• Description:
  On September 27, 2001, a 36-year-old male laborer at a tire retreading company was killed when a truck tire exploded as it was being filled with compressed air. There were no witnesses to the incident. The victim had been hired one week before the incident as a laborer for a small company that retreaded (recapped) truck tires. The victim came in early that morning before anyone else had arrived for work. He was let into the building by the manager of a neighboring auto body shop and was last seen doing chores from a list that had been left by his supervisor. At about 8:00 a.m., the victim may have tried to fill a truck tire undergoing the retread process with compressed air. An improperly installed air pressure regulator allowed too much air to enter the tire, causing it to explode. The manager of the body shop heard the loud explosion and went into the plant to find the victim bleeding from wounds caused by fragments of the exploding tire. Despite rescue attempts, the victim died of his injuries at the scene. NJ FACE investigators recommend following these safety guidelines to prevent similar incidents: 1. Employers should periodically inspect all process and safety equipment to ensure proper operation. 2. Employers should consider using safety valves on compressed air hoses that prevent the use of excessive air pressures. 3. Employers should ensure that employees are properly trained and supervised before permitting them to work alone. 4. Employers should conduct a job hazard analysis of all work activities with the participation of the workers. 5. Employers should become familiar with available resources on safety standards and safe work practices.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Automobiles Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace

  More +
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Automobile-repair-shops Injuries Injury-prevention Occupational-accidents Occupational-hazards Occupational-safety-programs OSHA Region 2 Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-practices Safety-programs Training Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-environment Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices Workshops

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Prevention through Design (PtD) ; FACE ; Prevention through Design (PtD)
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)   ; Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)  
• Subseries:
  State ; State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE01NJ108
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New Jersey ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  10 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026707
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2010-112429
• 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 01NJ108, 2002 Jun ; :1-10
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Performing Organization:
  New Jersey Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  31-33 - Manufacturing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1991/09/30
• End Date:
  2005/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6c40839783f698c8df6cc4ea3416f5a677f935f7bd5191f0288ee5afa02957151e1396d9ce2ff6834b64afebcee2b2b34bc8ae53dc046533233f71844aeebe21
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169229/cdc_169229_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 255.65 KB ]