On Dec. 11, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) released its final investigation report into a liquid nitrogen release at the Foundation Food Group (FFG) facility in Gainesville, Georgia, on Jan. 28, 2021, that killed six workers. The CSB’s final report identifies several equipment and process failures at the facility and issues a dozen recommendations to various entities, including the current owner of the facility, OSHA and two standard-setting organizations.
FFG’s poultry processing operation used liquid nitrogen to quickly freeze prepared poultry food products. The CSB’s final report found the liquid nitrogen release was caused by the failure of the liquid nitrogen control system in a freezer room due to a bent “bubbler tube.” The bent tube allowed the room to fill with an unsafe level of liquid nitrogen that quickly vaporized into a four- to five-foot-high deadly cloud, resulting in the death of six employees by asphyxiation. Three other FFG employees and a firefighter who responded to the incident were also seriously injured from asphyxiation.
The CSB’s report concluded the bubbler tube likely was bent during maintenance in the freezer room. The report determined the severity of the incident was worsened by FFG’s inadequate emergency preparedness — which resulted in at least 14 employees entering the freezer room or the surrounding area to investigate the incident or attempt to rescue coworkers. FFG failed to install air monitoring and alarm devices, which could have alerted workers about the hazardous vapor cloud and warned them against entering the freezer room.
The CSB’s final report found five key safety issues: a single point of failure due to the freezer’s design; lack of atmospheric monitoring and alarm systems to detect hazardous emissions; lack of emergency preparedness, including personal protective equipment (PPE); no documented process safety management policy; lack of product stewardship from equipment provider.
The CSB is calling on the current facility owner, Gold Creek Foods, to proactively engage with local emergency responders to ensure they are aware of the chemicals being stored onsite at the facility and their potential hazards. (See: “Tactics to Help First Responders During Safety Incidents.”)
The CSB also recommends OSHA issue a national standard to address the hazards arising from the storage use, and/or handling of cryogenic asphyxiants — which include liquid nitrogen. The CSB also is calling on OSHA to specifically cover liquid nitrogen in the agency’s regional emphasis programs for poultry processing and food manufacturing.
Further, the CSB is calling on the Compressed Gas Association and the National Fire Protection Association to improve their guidance on the safe use of cryogenic asphyxiants, including liquid nitrogen, and the International Code Council to update the International Fire Code to require the use of atmospheric monitoring with cryogenic asphyxiants.
