Phenomenex Inc: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Jun 20, 2007: Employees injured when glass bottle explodes

At about 10:30 a.m. on June 20, 2007, an explosion occurred at Phenomenex, Inc., 2320 W. 20th St, Torrance, CA 90501. Employee #1, the manufacturing manager, Em ployee #2, the project coordinator, and Employee #3, a lab technician, all regul ar employees, responded to a call by another lab technician that there was a bad smell coming from a sealed one gallon glass bottle on the floor under a counter in the HLPC unit 55 in the QA/QC area. As the three arrived, the bottle explode d. None of the employees were wearing appropriate eye or face protection. Employ ee #1 received a laceration of the cheek, Employee #2 a facial abrasion and Empl oyee #3 a panic attack with decreased blood pressure. The employer is a high tec h manufacturer and distributor of separation sciences chromatography instruments . Laboratory tools must be cleaned periodically. The lab has used nitric acid an d acetonitrile for this purpose for the last ten years. This time the person cle aning the tools stored the waste cleaning solution in a one gallon glass bottle with a cap. The mix generated gases which expanded and caused the bottle to expl ode. Employees #1 and #2 were assisted to eyewash fountains. Then Employees #1, #2 and #3 were taken to the Little Company of Mary Hospital Emergency Room in To rrance, CA where Employees #1 and #2 were treated for minor cuts and released wi thout admission. Employee #2 was observed for several hours and released without admission. All three then returned to work.