The accident investigation below was opened on Tuesday, September 24th 2013 by OSHA representitives in Cupertino, CA which had occured previously at Lehigh Southwest Cement Company. A Excavating had been injured when the employee was burned by caustic dust
Accident Date2013-09-23
Accident DegreeHospitalized injury
NarrativeAt approximately 1:00 a.m. on September 23, 2013, Employee #1 was operating a wheel loader with an open cab. He loaded a batch of clinker, a caustic cement mixture, into a feed hopper and then a pile of hot clinker behind the loader sloughed. When hot clinker batch came in contact with the clinker in the feed hopper, it created a cloud of dust that engulfed the loader and himself. He was exposed to the caustic dust, causing serious burns to the his extremities, head and neck. Employee #1 was transported to a medical center, where he was hospitalized and treated for multiple burns.