Representative Projects*

Industrial Plant - Conducted an incident investigation following serious burn injuries to an employee working at an industrial plant. The injured employee was performing maintenance work on an aboveground storage tank that had previously contained gasoline. The sequence of events prior to the incident were tracked up to the rescue and transportation of the victim to the hospital. All causal factors were analyzed to the root causes and contributing factors in order to minimize the possibility of a similar incident.

Elevated Water Tower Construction - Conducted a confined space evaluation, including industrial hygiene air sampling, following a fatality that occurred during the erection of an elevated water tower. Since there were no eyewitnesses, the cause of this accident was not readily known. Based on the results of the evaluation and other causal factors that were considered, the fatal injury was due to a fall of approximately 15 feet. An affidavit was later prepared to dispute alleged OSHA confined space violations related to this incident.

Refinery - Led the investigation effort of an accident that resulted in multiple fractures (and near fatality) of a boilermaker mechanic in California. The employee was fitting a large heavy nozzle (weighing approximately four tons) to a large ground assembly piece. The nozzle was suspended from a stiff-leg derrick with 70-ton capacity. The employee was standing on the heavy nozzle when the nozzle broke loose causing the nozzle to swing back and strike the employee against the ground assembly piece. Root causes were identified and corrective actions were implemented and followed up. Several similar tasks were subsequently performed on this project without incident.

Heavy Manufacturing - Following a fatality that occurred in a confined space, conducted industrial hygiene air sampling as part of the accident investigation. Welding fume, oxygen, and carbon monoxide concentrations were measured to simulate the exposures that were experienced on the day of the accident. The air sampling data obtained at this site provided conclusive evidence that an atmospheric hazard capable of causing death or serious harm was not present on the day of the accident.

Variety of Operations and Facilities - Reviewed investigation reports and provided pertinent comments and recommendations to the investigation teams for a variety of clients and industries. Such investigation report reviews included: a fatality of a crane operator crushed by the superstructure, as a result of a crane stability failure; a fatality of an employee who was engulfed by granular material during the application of perlite insulation material inside the annular space of a double-wall tank; and a fatality resulting from the collapse of a floating-roof of an aboveground storage tank.

*This is a brief description of our staff's project experience.

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