Incident date: 2018-08-20
NAICS industry code: 623990

An employee was repairing an AC unit and had pumped down the refrigerant to the outside unit. His gauge read less than 0.1 psi and he therefore began to remove a joint using an acetylene turbo torch. However, a quantity of the refrigerant unexpectedly leaked under pressure and was ignited by the torch. This created phosgene gas, which the employee inhaled, causing coughing, nausea and irritation to his throat and lungs. He was hospitalized.

Hazard classification:
code_event: title: Inhalation of harmful substance-single episode
code_source: title: Phosgene
code_nature: title: Coughing and throat irritation- toxic, noxious, or allergenic effect
code_body: title: BODY SYSTEMS
severity: moderate