Abstract
Two Hispanic workers, ages 31 and 54, and the 57-year old owner of a quail and pheasant farm died from burn injuries received on August 4, 2003 following a propane gas explosion in a building where birds were kept. The owner of the farm was attempting to light a brooder in one of the quail buildings when the explosion occurred. The two workers were moving quail from a delivery truck to the building at the time of the incident. They witnessed the explosion and immediately went into the burning building to pull the owner, who was unconscious, out of the building. After moving the injured owner to safety, one of the workers was overcome and lost consciousness as a result of injuries sustained during the rescue. The other rescuer ran to the house, which was about 50 yards away, to have the owner's wife call for emergency services. All three men were severely burned and also suffered from smoke inhalation. The rescuer who ran to get emergency aid died 8 days after the incident, the worker who lost consciousness at the scene died 34 days after the incident, and the owner died 57 days after the incident. Oklahoma Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (OKFACE) investigators concluded that to prevent similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Develop written procedures for lighting, servicing, maintaining, and labeling all gas powered heating equipment. 2. Ensure that ventilation is adequate in all enclosed areas so that flammable gas does not accumulate. 3. Seek guidance from the gas company on proper procedures for installation and use of gas systems. 4. Ensure that multilingual workers are able to comprehend instructions and follow safe work practices.
Keywords
Region-6; Accident-analysis; Accident-prevention; Accidents; Injuries; Injury-prevention; Traumatic-injuries; Work-operations; Work-analysis; Work-areas; Work-performance; Work-practices; Safety-education; Safety-equipment; Safety-measures; Safety-monitoring; Protective-measures; Agricultural-workers; Agricultural-industry; Agriculture; Equipment-operators; Equipment-reliability; Training; Burns; Fire-prevention; Fire-hazards; Explosive-gases; Explosive-hazards; Flammable-gases; Ventilation-equipment; Ventilation-systems
