Incident date: 2024-02-14
NAICS industry code: 325180

An employee was going upstairs to open a process valve to vent a chlorinator; another employee was massaging the plugged down leg on the chlorinator. The plug broke free and dumped titanium tetrachloride into a sump. This caused a chemical reaction that resulted in overpressure in the sump, whose vent line failed in three places. Both employees inhaled titanium tetrachloride gas and developed upper respiratory distress. They were hospitalized.

Hazard classification:
code_event: title: Inhalation of harmful substance  single episode or single shift
code_source: title: Multiple chemicals and hazardous materials
code_nature: title: Poison, toxic, or allergenic effects  other respiratory
code_body: title: BODY SYSTEMS
severity: low