We go all the way back to 1996 and OSHA issued a Hazard Information Bulletin regarding Asphyxiation Hazard in Pits: Potential Confined Space Problem. Fast forward 23 years later and we have this: At 2:23 p.m. on July 8, 2019, a worker employed by a utilities construction company was working in an underground vault. He was checking a water main valve when he lost consciousness and collapsed. He died from asphyxiation due to a lack of oxygen within the vault.