At 5:48 a.m. on November 5, 2019, an employee was working for a trucking firm that hauled refined fuel products. He was pumping fuel from a portable tank back into his tanker truck by top-loading (e.g. SPLASH FILLING). The fuel involved was a mixture of gasoline and diesel fuel (both NON-conductive flammable liquids). The employee was on top of the pump truck checking tank Number 3 when vapor from tank Number 3 flashed into flames. The employee caught on fire, and he was thrown from the top of the truck. The fire then spread to tank Number 4, which was open. Vapors in Tank Number 4 ignited. An explosion followed; this explosion ruptured the side of tank Number 4 (see photo). Ignited fuel from tank Number 4 then spilled out onto the employee, saturating him with fuel. He sustained third-degree burns to his face and hands and second-degree burns on the rest of his body. He was killed.
PLEASE NOTE that the news media reported this incident incorrectly. He was not refueling the business’s trucks, rather he was there to recover this fuel mixture. I am not sure why this business (reported to be an appliance business) would have a gasoline/diesel mixture, except maybe a delivery error. In these video’s we can see the small white above-ground tank next to the truck (we can see the vent pipe sticking up). I am assuming he was trying to pump the tank contents into his truck via an open hatch on top. He may have been the one that made the delivery error and pumped the wrong fuel into the wrong tank and he was trying to correct his mistake by removing the fuel mixture and putting it in an empty tank on his truck. I have a FOIA in with the Pheonix FD and State Fire Mashal for hopes we can better understand just what happened.
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Violation Summary
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serious | Willful | Repeat | Other | Total | |
| Initial Violations | 6 | 6 | |||
| Current Violations | 6 | 6 | |||
| Initial Penalty | $8,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $8,000 |
| Current Penalty | $8,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $8,000 |
| FTA Amount | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Violation Items | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | ID | Type | Standard | Issuance | Abate | Curr$ | Init$ | Fta$ | LastEvent |
| 1. | 01001 | Serious |
19100106 E06 II –Grounding. Category 1 or 2 flammable liquids, or Category 3 flammable liquids with a flashpoint below 100°F (37.8 °C), shall not be dispensed into containers unless the nozzle and container are electrically interconnected. Where the metallic floorplate on which the container stands while filling is electrically connected to the fill stem or where the fill stem is bonded to the container during filling operations by means of a bond wire, the provisions of this section shall be deemed to have been complied with. |
04/14/2020 | 05/08/2020 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $0 | Z – Issued |
| 2. | 01002 | Serious |
19100132 D01 – The employer shall assess the workplace to determine if hazards are present, or are likely to be present, which necessitate the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). If such hazards are present, or likely to be present, the employer shall: |
04/14/2020 | 04/20/2020 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $0 | Z – Issued |
| 3. | 01003 | Serious |
19100146 C01 – The employer shall evaluate the workplace to determine if any spaces are permit-required confined spaces. |
04/14/2020 | 04/20/2020 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $0 | Z – Issued |
| 4. | 01004 | Serious |
19100307 C02 I – Equipment shall be approved not only for the class of location, but also for the ignitable or combustible properties of the specific gas, vapor, dust, or fiber that will be present. |
04/14/2020 | 04/20/2020 | $2,000 | $2,000 | $0 | Z – Issued |
| 5. | 01005 | Serious |
19101200 E01 – Employers shall develop, implement, and maintain at each workplace, a written hazard communication program which at least describes how the criteria specified in paragraphs (f), (g), and (h) of this section for labels and other forms of warning, safety data sheets, and employee information and training will be met, and which also includes the following: |
04/14/2020 | 05/08/2020 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $0 | Z – Issued |
| 6. | 01006 | Serious |
19101200 H03 III – The measures employees can take to protect themselves from these hazards, including specific procedures the employer has implemented to protect employees from exposure to hazardous chemicals, such as appropriate work practices, emergency procedures, and personal protective equipment to be used; and, |
04/14/2020 | 05/08/2020 | $1,000 | $1,000 | $0 | Z – Issued |
CLICK HERE for the OSHA case file