At approximately 10:00 a.m. on May 25, 2018, three employees were working for a firm that disposed of waste and operated solid waste landfills. They were working at an oil and gas site. Three tanks were being decommissioned. They had been assisting in containing a spill during the decommissioning. The tanks were moved from the site to the bottom of a hill. There, a worker from a separate company cut open the tanks with an oxygen-acetylene torch so that they could be cleaned. The third tank contained a leak along the bottom seam. Once it was at the bottom of the hill, the three employees, along with a second worker from the separate company, were working to contain the sludge that was escaping. Nearby, the worker with the torch was on the opposite side of the tank. He began to heat the tank with the torch. The tank contained flammable material, either liquid or vapor escaping from the leaking seam, ignited. An explosion occurred inside the tank. All three employees sustained thermal burns. Two of the employees sustained relatively minor burns. They were flown to West Penn Hospital in Pennsylvania. They were hospitalized. One employee sustained severe burns. He was flown to UPMC Mercy Hospital in Pennsylvania. He died there on June 12, 2018.
|
Violation Summary
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serious | Willful | Repeat | Other | Total | |
| Initial Violations | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Current Violations | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Initial Penalty | $12,934 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $12,934 |
| Current Penalty | $12,934 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $12,934 |
| FTA Amount | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Violation Items | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | ID | Type | Standard | Issuance | Abate | Curr$ | Init$ | Contest | Last Event |
| 1. | 01001 | Serious |
19100252 A03 I – Used containers. No welding, cutting, or other hot work shall be performed on used drums, barrels, tanks or other containers until they have been cleaned so thoroughly as to make absolutely certain that there are no flammable materials present or any substances such as greases, tars, acids, or other materials which when subjected to heat, might produce flammable or toxic vapors. Any pipe lines or connections to the drum or vessel shall be disconnected or blanked. |
11/20/2018 | 12/10/2018 | $12,934 | $12,934 | 12/13/2018 | – |
| 2. | 02001 | Other |
19101200 G08 – The employer shall maintain in the workplace copies of the required safety data sheets for each hazardous chemical, and shall ensure that they are readily accessible during each work shift to employees when they are in their work area(s). (Electronic access and other alternatives to maintaining paper copies of the safety data sheets are permitted as long as no barriers to immediate employee access in each workplace are created by such options.) |
11/20/2018 | 12/10/2018 | $0 | $0 | 12/13/2018 | – |