U. S. Department of Labor

Occupational Safety and :alth Administration

Investigation Summary
Fri Feb 20, 2004 9:26am



 

Reporting ID Investigation 
Summary Number Number

OSHA-36 Establishment Name

 

0112600 200690600 100690486 Furniture Plus/The Stripping Workshop

 

Event Date 12/29/03 Event Time 11:00 am

 

 

 

 

Type of Event Employee experienced a massive heart attack and died.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inspection Number! 306272303

Establishment Name Furniture Plus/The Stripping Worlmhop
Injuredeecc'ased Name Antonio Minichilli

Sex: M. Male

Age: . i 46

injury: .. .. - A. Fatality

Nature: 17 Poisoning(systematic)

Part of Body: 04 Body system

Source of'lltjury: 09 Chemical liquids or vapors

Event. Type: 08 Inhalation

Environmental Factor: 07 Gas, vapor, mist fume, dust, etc. condition
Human Factor: 17 Insuf?cient or lack of engineering controls
Task: A Regularly Assigned

Subsrance Code: 1730 - METHYLENE CHLORIDE (DICHLOROMETHANE)
Occupational Code 658 - FURNITURE AND WOOD FINISHERS

 

 

 

Abstract:

A furniture stripper experienced a massive heart attack and died in the restroom of the company. He had been
using a methylene chloride based stripping solution earlier in the morning. He also had been assisting in moving

furniture and plywood within the facility prior to the heart attack.

Methylene chloride, due to its metabolsm in the body, has the ability to exacerbate underlying heart disease
in certain individuals and lead to a premature heart attack. The employee was 46 years old and there were reportedly

no indications of pre?existing heart disease.

Air sampling has been done by OSHA at this operation subsequent to the fatality. The results show that
workers at the facility performing wood stripping operations similar to what the deceased was performing on the
morning of his death were exposed to methylene chloride at concentrations of 46 as an 8 hour time weighted
average and to 159 as a Short Term Exposure. These concentrations are well in excess of Permissible

Exposure Limit and Short Term Exposure Limit for methylene chloride.

OSI-LA-l70p1-int(Rev. 11/93)