Police Officer Drowns After Being Overcome by Hydrogen Sulfide While Attempting Rescue of Construction Worker

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  New Jersey Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Project (NJ FACE) ; New Jersey. Department of Health and Senior Services. Occupational Health Service
• Description:
  On August 26, 1992, a 30-year-old male police officer drowned after being overcome by hydrogen sulfide gas when he attempted to rescue a construction worker who had been overcome by the gas in a 27-foot-deep excavation. Hydrogen sulfide was released when construction company workers drove a piling into marshy ground near the ocean. New Jersey FACE investigators concluded that, in order to prevent similar occurrences in the future, the following recommendations should be followed: 1. All excavations with the potential to contain an oxygen deficient or hazardous atmosphere should be monitored by the company controlling the site before personnel entry and periodically during the job to ensure that the atmosphere remains safe. 2. Employers controlling the excavation site should provide, and ensure that employees use, fall protection and safety harnesses with retrieval lines. 3. Police, rescue and fire departments should implement a general safety program designed to help rescuers recognize, understand, and control hazards affecting them in accordance with 29 CFR 1910.120(q).
• Content Notes:
  Publication Date provided by FACE program
  
  not printed on the report
  
  Formerly 93NJ021
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidents
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Construction Industry
  • Emergency Responders
  • Law Enforcement
  • Occupational Health
  • Oxygen
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Safety
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Accident-analysis
  • Accident-potential
  • Accident-prevention
  • Accidents
  • Injuries
  • Injury-prevention
  • Safety-education
  • Safety-equipment
  • Safety-practices
  • Safety-measures
  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Confined Space
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE92NJ020
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  New Jersey ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  6 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026541
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2013-104916
• 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 92NJ020, 1993 Feb ; :1-6
• CAS Registry Number:
  • Hydrogen sulfide (CAS RN 7783-06-4)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Performing Organization:
  New Jersey Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1991/09/30
• End Date:
  2005/08/31
• Resource Number:
  FACE-92NJ020
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/170105/cdc_170105_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 83.98 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:043fdac2c68d2f9ee7ee39439193cdcac7d0e4111fea06276edb970917ebdecf2b28e237bed35f2e0f6d6b0001be5139b5a7306d5ebedd0f4fb08fd32d6e775f