Shawn Jarmail Brown, 44 and Sidarieub Lozano, 29, known as Sidarieus, died after exposure to toxic fumes on December 28, 2019. The Quala industrial tank cleaning facility in Pasadena, Texas, where the incident took place, has been cited for numerous safety violations.

Brown and Lozano, 29, were cleaning inside a chemical tank. Sometime after 1:00 a.m. they began to suffocate due to toxic fumes and died.

However, no one at the plant notified emergency responders until four full hours after finding Brown and Lozano’s bodies in the trailer-mounted tank.

This workplace accident also caused injury to several other employees.

Tragically, the company doesn’t need to send any employees inside the tanks.

Tank-Washing Industry: Known Safety Violations

Tanker trucks must be washed after every trip to prevent cross contamination between hauls. Tank washes take about two hours. However, most companies use third-party logistics companies to route the trucks to third-party service providers like Quala, the trucks are usually down for at least a full day. Companies like Quala are notorious for cutting corners to lower their own costs. Many of these cost-cutting measures involve safety violations that place employees at risk.

For example, the cleaning process does not require anyone to enter the tank. However, tank-washing companies routinely send employees inside to complete the process faster. Often, they skip performing the required hazardous material checks and other safety procedures.

Qualawash Holdings LLC, owns the Pasadena Quala facility. They are the largest provider of industrial tank, container and rail car cleaning services in North America. Qualawash  has 53 locations across the United States. Before Qualawash bought the plant in 2017, it was a division of Alpha Technical Services .

Since the acquisition, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited the Pasadena Quala plant for many safety violations. Additionally, former Quala cleaning technician Ernesto Poblano has filed a personal injury lawsuit against the company for chemical burn injuries and suffocation caused by inhaling toxic fumes while cleaning out a sludge tank. He says he was not provided adequate safety equipment, first aid or medical care.

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