Another example of not understanding the chemical hazards in your CS/PRCS… This OSHA case shows us that “pits”, even those that would are not identified as a PRCS in a site evaluation can be deadly from the work we do inside them! When using a chemical that has a Vapor Density 3X’s that of air (1) inside a 10′ deep pit is creating both a FLAMMABLE ATM and in this case an Oxygen DEFICIENT ATM as well. But don’t worry, we know this, so we will use “respiratory protection” to protect us from the hazardous vapors and of course, I am betting there was not a qualified respiratory protection program administrator, as the respirator they selected was an Air-Purifying respirator. So many learnings in this simple incident…
At 1:50 p.m. on September 26, 2013, an employee was working in a dewatering pit and using lacquer thinner to prepare pipes for painting. The pit measured 8 feet by 5.5 feet and was 10 feet deep. A straight ladder was used to access the pit. The employee took a 1-gallon pail of lacquer thinner into the pit and used the thinner to prepare pipes for painting. The employee worked with thinner in the pit for more than one hour. The employee was found on the floor of the pit by coworker #1. Coworker #1 instructed coworker #2 to enter the pit and provide assistance.
