Permit Required Confined Spaces

OSHA has cited a tank cleaning company $171,281 in penalties for confined space, fire, and explosion hazards. OSHA inspectors determined that the company allowed employees to enter a tank without testing for atmospheric hazards. The company was cited for allowing employees to use a non-explosion proof vacuum in a tank that transported a highly hazardous…...

Starting this month (September) I will be conducting four (4) training sessions on Permit-Required Confined Spaces.  These are FREE, with lunch provided, and will cover all aspects of implementing a PRCS Program, with each month covering a different element.  The four elements are: Evaluating Spaces – What makes a space a CS and what makes…...

OSHA has cited five contractors for safety and health violations after three employees were fatally injured and two others critically injured following an explosion onboard a towboat in Kentucky. The five companies collectively received 55 of violations with proposed penalties totaling $795,254.  OSHA cited a ship repair contractor, an insulation contractor, two temporary staffing companies…...

At 11:00 a.m. on July 7, 2017, Employee #1was attempting to dislodge a 24-inch rubber plug from a 2foot diameter sewer pipe located inside a 24foot deep wet well. The workers were outside the well pulling on a 1/4-inch nylon rope that was attached to the 24-inch diameter plug. The plug was lodged inside a…...

At 9:00 a.m. on December 15, 2017, an employee was cleaning the excess oil from the bottom of a tanker rail car following a previous application of oil to prevent corrosion. The employee collapsed due to a 98% atmosphere of nitrogen being present inside the tank car. The employee was killed due to asphyxiation…. Membership...

This news report video does an excellent job, especially the accounts from the Fire Chief on the mistakes made by the workers AND the WOULD BE Rescuers AND the actual emergency responders.  … Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

OSHA has cited a Chemical Manufacturer after an employee died due to lack of oxygen while cleaning the inside of a railcar. A second employee who tried to rescue the co-worker was also overcome but survived. OSHA has proposed $64,857 in penalties. The facility was cited for failing to provide respiratory protection; properly ventilate a confined…...

Over the years, I have encountered some great learning opportunities, many occurring during my VPP assessments.  In one such evaluation in Alabama, the CSHO pointed out that our PRCS Labels were on the actual coverings over the entry portals (e.g., manways).  As he explained, in that set-up, OSHA would not require the space to be…...

In OSHA’s 2018 Permit-Required Confined Spaces; Extension of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Approval of Information Collection (Paperwork) Requirements, they noted some fascinating numbers as they relate to PRCS’s in the USA… number of establishments with permit spaces = 210,281number of entrants entering these spaces = 1,471,634… Membership Required You must be a...

The purpose of the information collection requirements specified in the Permit-Required Confined Spaces Standard (29 CFR 1910.146) is to ensure that employers systematically evaluate the dangers in permit spaces before entry is attempted, and to guarantee that Start Printed Page 23725adequate measures are taken to make the areas safe for entry. Section 1910.146(c)(2) requires the…...

Does the cited provision of the welding standard (29 C.F.R. § 1926.353(b)(1)) presume that a hazard exists “whenever welding, cutting, or heating is performed in a confined space”?  CLICK HERE… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...

As the popularity of “reclassifying PRCSs” continues to grow, so do the myths and lies about how this entry method applies and how it gets implemented.  OSHA did provide some more clarification in their newest PRCS Standard for Construction, which I will use to explain the process of “reclassifying a PRCS to a non-Permit confined…...