OSHA has cited two companies following an employee’s death at a refining facility. The contractor and the facility collectively face over $106,000 in penalties after the contractor’s employee suffocated to death when he lost his air supply while on the job in a confined space at the facility. OSHA cited the industrial contractor for failing to ensure personnel outside the permit-required confined space were capable of providing effective rescue, for allowing an employee to enter the permit-required confined space with insufficient lighting equipment, and for assigning members of the rescue team other duties that prevented them from responding to an emergency event.
OSHA cited both the contractor and the facility for failing to ensure that the confined space entry permits identified all dangers of the space, as well as document that all the steps required to ensure the employee’s safety in a confined space were completed.
OSHA cited the facility for failing to ensure, through periodic evaluations, that the contractor fulfilled their obligations as specified in the Process Safety Management standard
Here is a breakdown of the citations:
