Permit Required Confined Spaces

At 3:15 p.m. on May 31, 2019, an employee was scraping oil sludge towards the bottom drain of a rail car when coworkers noted the absence of normal working sounds. The coworkers performed an entry rescue and found the employee unresponsive due to anoxia and chemical inhalation. The employee was killed…. Membership Required You must...

There is a “Note” in OSHA’s Permit-Required Confined Space (PRCS) Standard(s) that seems to be overlooked by many who read the standard.  This “Note” is maybe the most important “Note” I have come across over my nearly 30 years in safety, so I am at a loss as to why so many misunderstand or overlook…...

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...

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?...

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…...

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…...

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…...

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…...

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…...

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…...

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…...