Municipal Water-line Inspector Dies After Entering Oxygen-Deficient Vault in Missouri

Details

• Personal Author:
  Ray, Thomas D. ; Roberts, Daryl W.
• Corporate Authors:
  Missouri Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Program (MO FACE) ; Missouri. Department of Health
• Description:
  A 31-year-old municipally employed inspector for the city's water and pollution control department died as a result of the lack of oxygen in a water-main maintenance vault. At the time of the incident, the victim was working alone inspecting the recent construction of a water main. The victim climbed into the eight-foot-deep water maintenance vault which contains the water main and an air relief valve. The victim was overcome by the lack of oxygen and did not survive. The Missouri Department of Health investigator concluded that, in order to prevent future similar occurrences, employers should: 1. recognize that confined-space atmospheres are dynamic environments subject to unexpected changes, and address those dynamics in all written and practiced safe work procedures and subsequent worker training. 2. develop and implement a comprehensive confined-space entry program to address all provisions outlined in NIOSH publications 80-106, "Working in Confined Spaces," and 87-113, "A Guide to Safety in Confined Spaces." In addition, Municipalities should ensure that: 3. fire, rescue and police personnel are trained in confined-space entry and rescue procedures.
• Content Notes:
  Publication Date provided by FACE program
  
  not printed on the report
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Confined Spaces Occupational Health Oxygen Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Confined-spaces Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 7 Oxygen-deficient-atmospheres Safety-climate Safety-education Safety-practices Traumatic-injuries Water-industry

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Confined Space
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE92MO033
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Missouri ; OSHA Region 7
• 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:20026218
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2007-109891
• 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 92MO033, 1993 Mar ; :1-6
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Performing Organization:
  Missouri Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1991/09/30
• End Date:
  2002/03/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9dfa090a4d99d2caf574d4cdf41498642a496f3446b139f6a4fbe2c2e682d1aeadc50938433905161ae8df2eb32893a24a791ceb9b453337ad0222f91556941b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/170295/cdc_170295_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 19.65 KB ]