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.
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Violation Summary
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serious | Willful | Repeat | Other | Total | |
| Initial Violations | 2 | 2 | |||
| Current Violations | 2 | 2 | |||
| Initial Penalty | $4,800 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $4,800 |
| Current Penalty | $4,800 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $4,800 |
| Violation Items | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | ID | Type | Standard | Issuance | Abate | Curr$ | Init$ | Contest | LastEvent |
| 1. | 01001 | Serious | 5A0001 | 11/30/2020 | 12/24/2020 | $2,400 | $2,400 | Z – Issued | |
| 2. | 01002 | Serious | 19100106 B06 | 11/30/2020 | 12/24/2020 | $2,400 | $2,400 | Z – Issued | |
CLICK HERE for the case file
