Ever wonder why OSHA saw fit to define entry as:
… as soon as any part of the entrant’s body breaks the plane of an opening into the space.
Here is a 2001 fatality involving a worker reaching into a PRCS and died…
At approximately 2 a.m. on August 8, 2001, Employee #1 was working on top of a reactor under nitrogen purge. A coworker was wearing breathing air with a communication device. The lead man was on top of the reactor overseeing the job. The lead man turned around and began communicating on the headset with the workers monitoring the breathing air. Employee #1 walked past the lead man and the coworker without breathing air and reached into a manhole. Employee #1 was overcome by the fumes/vapors and fell 3 to 4 feet into the reactor. The coworker and lead man pulled Employee #1 out of the reactor, and the lead man performed CPR until the rescue team arrived. Employee #1 was pronounced dead at the hospital. Employee #1 died from asphyxiation. CLICK HERE for the OSHA file
