Inspection Detail

Inspection: 316209782 - Cott Beverages Inc Dba Cliffstar Llc

Inspection Information - Office: San Bernardino District Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:40 a.m. on September 28, 2012, an employee was working as a full-time filler operator for a firm that manufactured fruit juices. The employee had been working at this job for 3 years and 8 months. The incident occurred near the tubing shell heat exchanger in the production area. The employee was heating filler line Number 1 in order to run a filtering system, such as one made by Filtech. The temperature of the line was still low. The employee thought that the line's pasteurizer was full of water, so he went to open the line's relief (steam) valve. The relief (ball) valve was on a line that carried a mixture of hot water and steam. Opening the valve caused the hot water and steam, which was at a temperature of around 180 degrees Fahrenheit (82 degrees Celsius) to discharge. As he opened the relief valve, the mixture of hot water and steam suddenly shot out to the floor. It bounced off the floor, spraying steam onto his left arm, in an area that included the forearm and extended to above the elbow. He sustained second-degree burns. The employer notified the Division of the injury properly at 9:58 a.m. on October 1, 2012, after the employer was made aware of the serious injury. The cause of the incident was that the relief discharge from the hot water and steam line was not located so as to not endanger the safety of the employees in accordance with the requirement of T8CCR 3310(d).

Keywords: BURN, STEAM LINE, FOREARM, FOOD PACKAGING MACH, STEAM, HIGH PRESSURE PIPE, HIGH PRESSURE, VALVE, HIGH TEMPERATURE, HOT WATER