Permit Required Confined Spaces

At 11:30 a.m. on August 29, 2021, Employee #1, 32, inserted a tank wash spinner inside a semi-tanker, which later started draining slowly. Employee #1 entered the tanker to find out why it was draining slowly. Employee #1 lost consciousness while inside the tanker and Employee #2, 43, went inside the tanker to render help…...

The death of a worker while cleaning the inside of a tanker trailer has led to a proposed $276,176 fine against an Indiana truck stop. The business was cited by IN-OSHA for six serious violations and five willful violations (“Knowing” as they’re called in IN-OSHA’s plan).  Here is the breakdown of the citations:… Membership Required...

At 11:00 a.m. on June 8, 2021, Employee #1 washed the inside of a tanker to clear chemical residue from the inside of the tanker. At some point, Employee #1 lost consciousness and was found by Employee #2, who attempted to rescue Employee # 1 from the tanker. A coworker heard Employee #2 in distress…...

At 7:15 a.m. on June 18, 2021, an employee was working as a maintenance technician for a firm that provided maintenance and repair services for land-based and airborne gas turbine engines for civilian and military clients. He and other workers in the maintenance department were replacing metal bars at the bottom of a pit furnace,…...

Anyone who works at a processing facility that has PRCSs with agitators will always fear this happening, yet this is a SIMPLE FAILURE of LOTO and should never happen.  I can probably count a dozen incidents where I have seen this happen with lesser consequences. At 11:15 a.m. on July 17, 2021, an employee was…...

At 8:45 p.m. on May 7, 2021, an employee and his coworkers were unloading a fertilizer hopper railcar when the Urea got stuck. They were using a compressor-driven vibrator on each side of the car as well as having employees hit the outside of the car with hammers. The employee and a coworker got up…...

At 5:00 p.m. on January 31, 2021, an employee was loading a below-ground pit with dry sawdust when he dropped his cell phone into the pit. While attempting to retrieve the cell phone, he fell into the pit and was engulfed by the loose sawdust which suffocated and killed him…. Membership Required You must be...

Incident #1 – At 11:30 a.m. on February 19, 2021, an employee was cleaning a fermented yogurt tanker with a hot water pressure washer. The employee entered the tanker to access the front and back of the tank. A coworker reported hearing a noise and then the sound of the wash water stopping. The employee…...

At 1:00 p.m. on May 25, 2021, Employee #1 and Employee #2 were conducting maintenance work on a pump above a leachate vault. A coworker dropped a cellphone inside the vault and left to look for a tool to retrieve the cellphone. Employee #1 and Employee #2 entered the vault to retrieve the phone and…...

At 12:30 p.m. on June 7, 2021, an employee entered a sewer manhole to estimate the amount of materials needed to perform a manhole repair when the employee was overcome by high levels of hydrogen sulfide at the base of the manhole shortly after entry. The employee did not perform atmospheric monitoring and had not…...

We see it happen every once in a while, a worker has their face in the opening of the space.  They are exposed to the hazardous atmosphere within the space as the only air flow out of the space (which is at higher pressure) is right past their breathing zone.  They are exposed and unfortunately,…...

A central Illinois grain-handling cooperative exposed workers to serious engulfment hazards when soybeans collapsed inside a bin and engulfed an employee up to their waist.  An investigation by OSHA found that two workers were clearing the bin of crops and debris when the February 19, 2021, incident occurred. OSHA proposed $303,510 in penalties after identifying…...