Permit Required Confined Spaces

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…...

Oregon OSHA has fined a custom crush winery in Dundee $11,100 for violating job safety standards designed to protect workers from the hazards of confined spaces.  The division cited the winery following an investigation into the death of a worker.  The investigation found that at approximately 10:30 a.m. Feb. 1, 2021, a cellar worker was…...

Just an FYI for those of you outside of Canada… there are fourteen (14) jurisdictions in Canada – one (1) federal, ten (10) provincial, and three (3) territorial each having its own occupational health and safety legislation. Federal legislation covers employees of the federal government including Crown agencies and corporations across Canada.  The federal health…...

See if this sounds all too familiar… three (3) workers remove a manhole cover to a sanitary sewer to check for water and blockage.  Unable to see anything, Employee #1 climbs down into the sewer to look for problems.  A co-worker working nearby sees Employees #2 and #3 enter the manhole and comes over to…...

A worker at a water technology company suffered an injury when a guardrail loosened and he fell and struck his head on a support beam as he lowered himself into a nearly 30-foot deep water test pit. OSHA received the report of the injury on Oct. 29, 2020. Its inspectors later determined that the company…...

The only item remaining in dispute is Item 3b of the citation. Item 3b alleges a violation of 29 CFR 1910.146(c)(4) for failure to develop and implement a permit-required confined space program to control entry of employees into the Fish Bin Chiller Alley at the Seward plant. This item was classified as a serious violation…...