Case Study Valero Refinery Asphyxiation Incident. This Case Study describes the Valero Refinery Asphyxiation Incident in Delaware City refinery deaths of two employee contractors.

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Valero Refinery Asphyxiation Incident

August 29, 2011

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Valero Refinery Asphyxiation Incident

This Case Study describes the Valero Refinery Asphyxiation Incident in Delaware City refinery deaths of two employee contractors "who were preparing to reassemble a pipe on a pressure vessel while it was being purged with nitrogen," (USCSB, 2006, p. 1). The first worker according to the report was overcome by nitrogen when he tried to retrieve a roll of duct tape from inside the vessel, causing him to collapse and die. Afterward, the crew foreman attempted to rescue him and was also asphyxiated.

Accident Investigation Team

Those I would like to have on the accident investigation team would be U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board for their expertise in investigating this type of accident. I would also include Valero Energy Corporation for their experience in safely operating refineries, though accidents do happen. In this case Valero may not have do enough since acquiring this refinery from Premcor, in which contracted with Matrix and other companies to perform the fall 2005 maintenance turnaround.

Valero should be on the team in prevent this type of accident from occurring in the future.

Type of Evidence to Collect

The types of evidence to collect in this scenario would be any physical evidence and the autopsy report on the victims.

Who would you interview, and why?

I would interview the eyewitness that was working on an adjacent reactor platform because he saw the foreman and nightshift contract administrator looking through the manway into the reactor (R1). He also saw the foreman insert a ladder into the reactor, and climb down, then he saw the contract administrator "approach the ladder, hesitate, and then heard him urgently call for help on his radio," (USCSB, 2006, p. 4). I would also interview the Valero Emergency...