| Date | City | State | Employer | Body Part | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-11-16 | Ossining | Ny | Metallized Carbon Corp. | BODY SYSTEMS | Inhalation of harmful substance-single episode |
| An employee was repairing an oven that contained atmospheric gases (hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and sulfur) to prevent burning product. The employee was overcome by carbon monoxide gas and was hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning. | |||||
| 2021-08-02 | Saint Louis | Mo | SENSIENT COLORS, LLC | Multiple body parts | Contact with hot objects or substances |
| An employee had cleaned a vacuum belt dryer feed tank with steam-heated water, which he then drained out of the tank through the outlet valve at the bottom. When he disconnected the nitrogen supply line on the upper part of the tank, hot water sprayed from the flange for that line and struck the employee. He suffered second-degree burns to his neck, chest, back, legs, and arms, covering about 30 percent of his body. He was hospitalized. | |||||
| 2021-04-14 | Aliquippa | Pa | KTA-Tator, Inc. | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Struck by discharged object or substance |
| An employee installed a nitrogen supply line containing a particulate filter, pressure gauge, and pressure relief valve for a dual gas inlet gas booster system. When the employee pressurized the supply line, the particulate filter failed, causing the quick-disconnect metal bowl guard to become airborne and strike the employee's left pinky and ring fingers, resulting in broken bones. | |||||
| 2021-01-09 | Appleton | Wi | Luvata Appleton LLC | Multiple body parts | Explosion of nonpressurized vapors, gases, or liquids |
| An employee was scraping slag off an alloy melting furnace pot when residual liquid nitrogen mixed with molten metal still in the furnace. The instantaneous mixing caused an explosion, which knocked the employee to the ground. His protective helmet and face shield were knocked off and he suffered second- and third-degree burns to the neck and left arm. | |||||
| 2020-10-15 | Fairfield | Al | U.S. Steel Tubular Products, Inc. | Chest, except internal location of diseases or disorders | Struck by dislodged flying object, particle |
| An employee was repairing a nitrogen line. Pressure in the line caused a fitting to come off the line and strike the employee, causing abdominal injuries and broken ribs. The employee was hospitalized. | |||||
| 2020-10-12 | Warren | Pa | United Refining Company | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Struck by discharged object or substance |
| An employee was transferring water from the frac tank/settling tank to another tank. The transfer continued until sludge built up in the pipe. The employee then had to clear the sludge from the pipe. The employee blew the line out using nitrogen, at 40 to 50-pounds, then heard a leak coming from a cam-lock connection. The employee was securing the broken cam-lock mechanism when a plug shot out of the pipe and broke the employee's finger. The employee was hospitalized for surgery. | |||||
| 2020-06-11 | Texas City | Texas | Entech Engineering Inc. | Forearm(s) | Explosion |
| An employee was conducting an emissions test of a nitrogen vaporizer unit inside an instrument test trailer when a pipe explosion occurred outside. Pieces of the steel pipe scattered in all directions, including toward the trailer. As a result, the employee suffered a fractured right radius bone, requiring hospitalization and surgery. | |||||
| 2020-03-06 | Towanda | Pennsylvania | Global Tungsten & Powders Corp. | Multiple body parts | Explosion of nonpressurized vapors, gases, or liquids |
| An employee was visually inspecting the calciner (furnace) tube. When the employee removed the manifold for the calciner tube, tungsten (product) and nitrogen and/or hydrogen caused an explosion inside the calciner tube. Flames shot out of the end of the tube and burned the employee's face and right forearm. | |||||
| 2020-03-05 | Roanoke | Texas | Natural Gas Fuel Systems, Inc. | Arm(s) | Struck by dislodged flying object, particle |
| An employee was filling cylinders with pressurized nitrogen. A piece of metal came loose, lacerating and breaking the employee's arm. | |||||
| 2020-02-03 | Midland | Texas | Titan Petro Services | Back, including spine, spinal cord | Other fall to lower level |
| While exiting the doghouse of a nitrogen unit, an employee fell from a ladder to the ground, suffering a back injury. | |||||
| 2020-01-29 | Salt Point | New York | Harvey Bloch Ortiz Bailer | Hand(s) and arm(s) | Exposure through unintentional needlestick or sharp injury |
| An employee was removing nitrogen from a system when a tool malfunctioned and a Schrader pin hit the employee's hand and nitrogen gas got under the skin on the employee's left arm and hand. | |||||
| 2019-06-24 | Leonia | New Jersey | Kulite Semiconductor Products, Inc. | Fingertip(s) | Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment |
| An employee was using a cart to transport a full liquid nitrogen dewar when the liquid nitrogen dewar slipped/shifted position on the hook holding it in place. The employee's right middle finger was then crushed between the dewar and the cart, resulting in a fingertip amputation. | |||||
| 2018-07-18 | Eddystone | Pennsylvania | Barry Callebaut USA LLC | BODY SYSTEMS | Depletion of oxygen |
| At about 2:00 p.m. on July 18, 2018, an employee had opened the top hatch of a heat exchanger hopper and was changing an air filter. The employee became unresponsive due to a lack of oxygen, possibly because nitrogen gas had displaced the oxygen. | |||||
| 2018-05-24 | Alvin | Texas | ASCEND PERFORMANCE MATERIALS LLC | Back, including spine, spinal cord | Explosion of pressure vessel, piping, or tire |
| An employee was struck in the back by a piece of a stainless steel organic solvent container that became over-pressurized and burst, suffering back lacerations. The container had at least 200 pounds of pressure and was full of liquid nitrogen at the time. | |||||
| 2018-05-17 | Belle Chasse | Louisiana | Phillips 66 Alliance Refinery | Upper and lower limb(s) | Contact with hot objects or substances |
| An employee was removing a nitrogen line from a unit. The employee did not realize that the nitrogen hose was back-pressured with 30 psi of steam that originated from a manifold located at the north end of the unit. The steam caused second degree burns to the employee's right inner thigh and left arm. | |||||
| 2018-04-14 | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | Neville Chemical Company | Nonclassifiable | Contact with hot objects or substances |
| Employee #1 was shutting down the system where molten resin goes through a filter prior to being cooled and processed on the belt. The employee tried to clean the material from the filter using nitrogen. The O-ring on the filter failed, allowing hot molten resin to spray out. The employee moved away from the area thinking that the pressure was relieved from the filter. When he returned with another employee, more molten resin sprayed out, burning both employees. | |||||
| 2018-03-13 | Ann Arbor | Michigan | Department of Veteran Affairs, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c. |
| An employee was loading a nitrogen bottle onto a cart. The bottle fell and crushed the employee's finger resulting in amputation. | |||||
| 2017-09-26 | Manitowoc | Wisconsin | ECK INDUSTRIES INC | BODY SYSTEMS | Inhalation of harmful substance-single episode |
| On September 26, 2017, an employee was attaching a nitrogen gas regulator to a chlorine gas bottle when the chlorine gas started venting out. He suffered symptoms of hypoxia and respiratory distress. | |||||
| 2017-07-10 | Brooklyn | New York | Airgas USA LLC | Fingertip(s) | Compressed or pinched by shifting objects or equipment |
| An employee was moving a liquid nitrogen round cylinder onto a special delivery cart to hook the top of the cylinder into place when a cylinder moved and caught the employee's fingers between it and the cart. The employee's right third and fourth fingertips were amputated. | |||||
| 2017-04-27 | Elwood | Nebraska | Crop Production Services | Multiple face locations | Exposure through intact skin, eyes, or other exposed tissue |
| An employee was transferring chemicals from the tinder truck to the applicator when the transfer hose broke open and sprayed her face, especially her eyes, with 32% nitrogen, Acuron and Gramoxone SL. She was hospitalized. | |||||
| 2017-04-12 | Palm Bay | Florida | HARRIS CORPORATION | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Struck by falling object or equipment, n.e.c. |
| An employee was transporting a container of liquid nitrogen on a dolly. Upon entering a building the container fell off the dolly and pinched the employee's finger between it and the dolly resulting in a left index finger amputation at the tip of the distal interphalangeal joint. | |||||
| 2017-03-16 | Plaquemine | Louisiana | Olin Chlor Alkali | BODY SYSTEMS | Inhalation of harmful substance-single episode |
| An employee was de-pressuring a vessel. After a pressure check with nitrogen, the employee was exposed to a small amount of chlorine released from the vent. The employee was admitted to the hospital for chlorine inhalation. | |||||
| 2017-02-10 | Matteson | Illinois | South Oak Dodge Inc | Finger(s), fingernail(s) | Struck by object or equipment |
| On February 10, 2017, at approximately 5:10 p.m., an employee was attempting to move a nitrogen tank when his fingers were smashed. | |||||
| 2017-02-05 | Augusta | Georgia | Xytex Cryo International, LTD. | BODY SYSTEMS | Inhalation of harmful substance-single episode |
| An employee was responding to an emergency call after a liquid nitrogen leak at a laboratory. When the employee entered the lab to close the valves, the employee inhaled nitrogen, suffering hypoxia and loss of consciousness. The employee was hospitalized. | |||||
| 2016-10-19 | Tifton | Georgia | Triest Ag Group, Inc. | Nonclassifiable | Inhalation of harmful substance-single episode |
| An employee was relieving residual nitrogen pressure on returned empty product cylinders and was exposed to methyl bromide vapors. The employee suffered second degree chemical burns. | |||||
| 2016-07-05 | Elmhurst | New York | JT & T Air Conditioning Corp | Back, including spine, spinal cord | Other fall to lower level less than 6 feet |
| An employee on a ladder was cutting a 3-inch copper pipe that was filled with 150 psi of nitrogen gas. As he was cutting the pipe's end cap, the pressure of the nitrogen pushed him off the ladder. He fell approximately 6 feet and landed on a nearby table, injuring the back of his body and cutting his left ear. | |||||
| 2016-01-15 | Montgomery | Alabama | Hyundai Power Transformers USA, Inc. | Eye(s) | Struck by dislodged flying object, particle |
| While purging a tank with nitrogen, an employee opened the tank valve before the hose valve. Pressure built up, and the hose came loose at the connection point of the tank. The end of the hose struck the employee's left eye. | |||||
| 2015-10-19 | Geismar | Louisiana | Westlake Vinyl's | Wrist(s) | Exposure through intact skin, eyes, or other exposed tissue |
| An employee was using nitrogen air to purge particles from a vessel. The chemical spray used to purge the vessel got on the employee's wrist and face. The employee sustained a chemical burn to the left wrist. | |||||
| 2015-10-16 | Seabrook | Texas | LBC Houston LT | Multiple body parts | Exposure through intact skin, eyes, or other exposed tissue |
| An employee was clearing a pipe line using nitrogen to pressure the line. The employee disconnected the nitrogen line, which was not clear or de-pressured at the time. Product sprayed out on the employee, causing first and second degree burns to the left side of the employee's head, the left arm, and both legs from the knees down. | |||||
| 2015-06-04 | Bishop | Texas | Ticona Polymers, Inc. | Multiple body parts | Exposure through intact skin, eyes, or other exposed tissue |
| An employee was performing a gaging around, checking outside operating conditions, and inspecting the equipment in the pharmaceutical unit. A pressurized hose connected to a process line and containing a contaminated chemical mixture of nitrogen and hydrochloric acid was nearby. The hose was pressurized but not flowing; it was closed by the valve. The employee was 3 to 5 feet from the hose when it became disconnected. He sustained burns to his abdomen, arm, and face. | |||||
| 2015-05-16 | Donaldsonville | Louisiana | CF Industries Nitrogen, LLC | Pelvis | Fall on same level due to tripping over self |
| An employee was using a ladder to take a nitrogen purge line off of a unit that was being decommissioned. He lost his balance on the ladder and fell backwards onto his backside. This is not the fall that caused the injury, but was a precursory fall. He gathered himself and headed back toward the control unit when he then tripped over his feet and landed on an approximately 12-inch high dike on his right side, causing the injury. He was hospitalized for a fractured pelvis. | |||||
| 2015-04-25 | Elk City | Oklahoma | CP Well Testing, LLC | Multiple body parts | Ignition of vapors, gases, or liquids |
| An employee was running a panel that opens/shuts hydraulic valves, pumping nitrogen. The employee was told to open the valve slowly; a flashover occurred when this action was taken. The employee was hospitalized for burns. | |||||
| 2015-01-02 | Amory | Mississippi | True Temper Sports, Inc. | Arm(s) | Other fall to lower level 6 to 10 feet |
| The employee was coming down a ladder after placing media in a nitrogen generator. Employee missed a rung, fell about 10 feet to the floor, and sustained a compound fracture to the right arm. | |||||