A steam accident inside a Moosup manufacturing plant left a 26-year-old man fighting for his life in a Rhode Island burn unit and sent a second worker to the hospital on Monday morning. Police said the two maintenance employees were repairing a condenser pump when an accidental discharge of steam escaped and filled the immediate work area, leaving both men with severe burns.
Plainfield police were notified of a reported boiler explosion at around 9:30 a.m. Monday, according to wtnh.com. Crews responded to Griswold Products, where the two maintenance workers had been working on the condenser pump inside the building when the steam was accidentally released, according to a police report cited by Daily Voice.
The more seriously hurt of the two workers, a 26-year-old Brooklyn, Connecticut man, was airlifted to the Rhode Island Burn Center at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, per Daily Voice. He remained in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit Monday afternoon with severe burns to his chest, hands, arms and face, the station's report notes.
Second Worker Treated and Released
The second worker, a 64-year-old Danielson resident, went to Backus Hospital in Norwich, where staff treated him for burns to his hands and face before releasing him, per the same account from Daily Voice. His injuries were described as less severe than those suffered by his younger coworker, who remained hospitalized in critical condition.
Police told reporters the incident did not appear to involve any criminal activity, according to wtnh.com. Investigators have not identified what specifically caused the steam discharge beyond describing it as accidental.
Federal and State Investigators Called In
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Connecticut Office of the State Building Inspector were both contacted about the incident, wtnh.com reports. Those agencies are examining how the steam escaped during what was described as routine maintenance work on the condenser pump.
Steam-related injuries at industrial facilities are not unheard of nationally. A 2023 federal workplace safety investigation into an explosion at an Ohio foundry, which killed a maintenance supervisor and injured 15 other employees, found that the operator had failed to protect workers from the hazard of steam explosions, according to osha.gov. A separate 1998 case documented by the same federal agency involved a worker seriously injured when pressurized steam was released while he was opening a boiler valve.
No findings have been released indicating whether OSHA or Connecticut's state building inspector plan to issue citations or penalties tied to Monday's incident at the Moosup facility. For now, the investigation remains open as the 26-year-old worker continues treatment in intensive care.
