Permit Required Confined Spaces

Triple Fatality in Water Vault (Atmospheric)

I was unable to find an OSHA case file on this; possibly because this was a state-run project.  But I searched under both company’s names and no case file was found…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

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Fatal PRCS Lessons Learned (6% Oxygen in muncipal water pit)

On July 2, 1998, Employee #1 entered the underground vault of domestic well #8 to check the aquifer level without first testing the atmosphere. An oxygen-deficient atmosphere existed and Employee #1 died as a result of asphyxia.   OSHA Case File… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member?...

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Fatal PRCS Lessons Learned (H2S in open top pit)

This video, from AsiaWorkSAFE, is about lessons learned due to non-compliance to safe work practices when working in permit-required confined space. Safety procedures must be adhered to at ALL times. If not, the consequences are everlasting and far-reaching.  This incident happened in an open pit with a fixed ladder.  One entrant entered to fix a rope…...

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The serious flaw in OSHA’s PRCS application

As I grow old I think I have mellowed out too much with “sutle” hints at hazards and how we “should consider” certain things.  Well, its time to throw some cold water on the issue and WAKE THE HELL UP PEOPLE!  We have done our last audit of 2019 and like many before them we…...

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OSHA issues PRCS citations to railcar service provide (Fatality/Oxygen Deficiency & $551K)

OSHA has cited a railcar service provider for confined space hazards after an employee fatality in Pennsylvania and faces $551,226 in proposed penalties.  An employee asphyxiated in May 2019, while servicing a rail car containing crude oil sludge. OSHA cited the company for four (4) willful and three (3) serious violations for failing to protect…...

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They’re at it again… does this door eliminate a “limited means of egress”

Almost two years ago to the month I wrote about a condenser manufacturer’s marketing practices regarding their “man-sized” access door, only to be rebuffed by the manufacturer and those who were buying their model so they no longer had to follow Permit-Required Confined Space (PRCS) practices and procedures.  Now in 2019, we have a competitor…...

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They’re at it again… does this door eliminate a “limited means of egress” Read More »

OSHA PRCS Citations @ Refinery (Contractor lost breathing air; $106K)

OSHA has cited two companies following an employee’s death at a refining facility.  The contractor and the facility collectively face over $106,000 in penalties after the contractor’s employee suffocated to death when he lost his air supply while on the job in a confined space at the facility. OSHA cited the industrial contractor for failing to…...

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OSHA PRCS Citations @ Refinery (Contractor lost breathing air; $106K) Read More »

OSHA makes it clear – difference between controlling a hazard and eliminating a hazard

As our debate/discussion continues regarding falls within or into a Confined Space and if that fall hazard is one that makes the CS a PRCS and if a PRCS can be reclassified when there is a fall hazard present.  I keep sharing OSHA language and it keeps being diced up and rephrased to meet personal…...

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Another solvent applied in lift station PRCS Fatality (Acute MEK toxicity)

At 11:45 a.m. on August 28, 2012, an employee was finishing a painting assignment to coat pipes in six confined spaces at a lift station site. The employee was cleaning the pipes using a Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) solvent prior to applying a two-part epoxy paint that contained Xylene, Methyl Isobutyl Ketone (MIBK), and Ethyl…...

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Does an PRCS attendant need respiratory protection?

I am sure the thought has crossed everyone’s mind who has issued an entry permit for a HAZ ATM entry… “should the attendant be in breathing air as well?”.  Is there an exposure potential for the attendant to the HAZ ATM from within the PRCS?  Most attendants are stationed right outside the entry portal, add…...

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Is a palletizer a Permit-Required Confined Space?

One of the biggest mistakes I see in my auditing and the biggest frustration I have when facilities state they treat all of their confined spaces as PRCS is that most have not recognized the fact that a roll-off trash compactor and/or large palletizers are actually Permit-Required Confined Spaces.  For example, we have a large…...

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Falls, Permit-Required Confined Spaces, and Reclassifying the space

Our behind the scenes debate continues and now a number of clients have joined in with their take on the matter. The fundamental part of our debate has come down to two (2) positions: does a fall inside or into a Confined Space make that CS a Permit-Required Confined Space? if you said yes to…...

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