Permit Required Confined Spaces

This Alert highlights the risks associated with maintenance work in a confined space, such as a storage tank that has an internal floating roof, and suggests control measures to address these risks. Background In a recent incident at a major hazard facility (MHF), the internal floating roof of a storage tank collapsed down to the…...

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At approximately 9:45 a.m. on November 4, 2016, Employee #1, wearing a full face respirator, opened the hatch of ETS tanker T442 to initiate cleaning. It contained residue from hazardous waste. Employee #2 witnessed Employee #1 bend over the hatch area on top of the trailer as he walked by. As Employee #2 continued along…...

OSHA responded to a report of unsafe working conditions May 17, 2016, after two employees lost consciousness and collapsed. The workers were exposed to hazardous gas while entering a sewer system. OSHA investigators found the company allowed the workers inside a confined space without having tested the space for hazards. OSHA issued citations for six…...

A worker, 52, was clearing crusted corn from the sides of a grain bin and was engulfed in hundreds of pounds of grain, just minutes after the wall of corn collapsed and buried him. Rescued by emergency crews, he died of his injuries two days later.  Federal investigators found multiple violations of Occupational Safety and…...

OSHA has long stated that “entry permits” which contain exposure data MUST be maintained per 1910.1020.  However, this requirement seems to not be well understood.  It seems we find companies that prohibit entry into any hazardous atmosphere are keeping warehouses full of closed entry permits and those companies that are actually entering hazardous atmospheres are throwing…...

Many of you that followed my incident alerts may remember the transformer manufacturer that had a fatal PRCS accident that killed two workers and left a third injured back at the end of 2015. The three people were working on a transformer in the plant and were found unresponsive. Unofficial sources said the transformer was…...

The state of Washington’s OSHA has published their DRAFT standard on Confined Spaces.  The standard pretty closely mirrors federal OSHA’s 1926.1201-.1213; however, the OSHA standards in WA must be written in a much more simplified manner, thus we end up with a standard that is easier to read and WA-OSHA does an EXCELLENT job explaining…...

An elevator superintendent, 41, suffocated when his lifeline tangled in an unguarded and rotating auger. OSHA investigators determined three workers, including the elevator superintendent, had been standing over the unguarded auger using a pole in an attempt to dislodge soybean debris in a grain bin that contained more than 50,000 bushels of soybeans sloped 12…...

The company specializes in the cleaning of gasoline and gasoline tanks for gasoline retailers. On December 30 and 31, 2014, OSHA’s Compliance Officer (CSHO) conducted an inspection following a fatal accident at that worksite. An employee died after being found unresponsive at the bottom of a well containing a submersible turbine pump (STP) at a…...

UPDATE 4/29/2017 from OSHA Case File: At approximately 2:30 p.m. on March 19, 2016, an employee was checking an argon purge inside of a process vessel. The employee was overcome by an oxygen deficient atmosphere and fell 10-feet to the platform below. The employee suffered from possible spinal injury from the fall, and asphyxiation and was…...