On or about May 28th, 2020 at approximately 15:30 hours three (3) employees were exposed to fire and explosion hazards when a remediation repair (on a produced water tank) involved a grinder for preparing the surface and a heat gun for preparing an epoxy on a tank which had accumulated hydrocarbon vapors from the produced water contained earlier in the day.
The result of not monitoring hydrocarbon vapors in a confined space was a flash fire and explosion from within the tank.
Employee #1 was killed.
Employee #2 and Employee #3 were hospitalized from burn injuries.
NOTE: there was a GDC 5(a)(1) citation issued regarding this being a PRCS incident, but OSHA did not issue any PRCS citations which is really odd. In fact, OSHA issued only the GDC and a flammable liquids citation for a total of $4,800 in fines.
