Permit Required Confined Spaces

Sometimes it is nice to be validated, even if it is by the government (who sets the minimum performance standards) and about 28 years late!  But OSHA has finally made it clear in an LOI that a “single line valve is not permitted for isolation of hazards during entry“… Background: An employer has installed a…...

At 2:00 p.m. on October 12, 2021, an employee was working on top of a fermentation tank (a confined space), preparing to install a spray nozzle and attach it via a hose to the pump-over riser to begin a pump over. The employee opened the fermentation tank and was found lying on the platform with…...

At 1:00 p.m. on December 16, 2021, an employee was retrieving a waste drum that had fallen into a trash compactor. While the employee was inside the compactor, the waste company attempted to remove the compactor, and the employee was unable to exit. The employee suffered crush/contusion injuries from the waste compactor and was hospitalized,…...

The Cal/OSHA Process Safety Management Unit has cited a refinery and three contractors a combined $1,753,375 for serious safety violations following a confined space death of a 35-year-old worker who suffocated in a regenerator overflow well. Cal/OSHA inspectors cited three of the four employers with willful and serious violations after determining that they failed to…...

The frequency of bump testing on portable and wearable gas detectors has often been a subject of debate amongst safety professionals andusers of gas detectors. As product durability and advancements in sensor technology continue to improve detector performance and reliability,some are using these improvements as a basis for abandoning the practice of daily bump tests,…...

At 12:00 noon on August 27, 2021, an employee, 27, entered a tanker trailer to power wash the interior of the tanker. The tanker had contained animal parts and was sitting outside in the high summer temperatures. The employee was found unconscious inside the tanker and emergency services were notified…. Membership Required You must be...

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…...