Permit Required Confined Spaces

Employee dies from CO exposure while cleaning bulk liquid tank

On December 23, 2023, at 12:07 p.m., an employee working as an equipment washer for a contract tank service was cleaning a bulk liquid waste tank that had contained acetic acid. The employee was found unresponsive inside the tanker. The employee was transported to the emergency room and was pronounced dead eleven minutes after arrival…....

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FATAL flashfire in gasoline storage tank (Flammable atm)

On May 2, 2023, an employee working for a gas station and convenience store arrived to talk to a coworker (the employer) about payment for the building he leases. The employee asked the coworker if he could help him apply a fuel tank liner. The employee climbed inside the tank and plugged in his own…...

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Why does OSHA use 10% LEL to define a HAZ ATM within a PRCS?

One of the top questions I get via SAFTENG and in my PRCS or Hazardous Atmospheres training courses is… Why did OSHA use 10% LEL to define a hazardous atmosphere? There is an official and logical reason, both of which should be understood. First, the “official” reason:… Membership Required You must be a member to...

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PRCS incident kills 7, injures 3 @ Cement Plant (LOTO Failure – 2 Videos)

   Source: VnExpress/Anh Phu   Seven (7) workers were killed, and three (3) others were injured while conducting periodic maintenance on one of the plant’s kilns when the incident occurred.  When the workers entered the rotary kiln to start the repair work, the kiln unexpectedly restarted. Replacing the eroded kiln plates is done every 5-7…...

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Combustible Dust and entry into Permit-Required Confined Spaces (PRCS)

Both OSHA PRCS standards define and quantify a Hazardous Atmosphere in terms of combustible dust using the distance one can see through the dust cloud… Hazardous atmosphere means an atmosphere that may expose employees to the risk of death, incapacitation, impairment of ability to self-rescue (that is, escape unaided from a permit space), injury, or…...

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Appeals Court sides with Paper Mill over Confined Space incident

This is a crazy case!  The mill hired a contractor to build scaffolding inside one of its Chlorine Dioxide (CLO2) tanks.  The mill prepped the tank and even performed the initial air sampling of the space.  Turned it over to one of the scaffolding contractor employees who would be the attendant for the entry.  Three…...

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OSHA finds Florida contractor ignored federal safety measures that could have prevented welder’s confined space fatality (O2 Deficiency)

As he had many other days, the morning shift welder arrived at 5 a.m. to work on Aug. 28, 2023. Tasked with doing some fabrication work in a 4-foot by 8-foot space in a ship’s hull, the employee began work unaware that fatal suffocation would soon end his life. Less than two hours after entering…...

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PRCS Fatality (O2 Deficiency)

At 5:00 p.m. on September 20, 2023, an employee entered an oil well production tank to replace a leaking valve. The employee became unconscious when he entered the confined space. The employee died of asphyxiation in the hazardous atmosphere…. Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log...

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Non-Entry rescue mechanical device

OSHA states the following about our non-entry rescue devices… The mechanical device used for emergency rescue must be designed and rated for human use. The standard specifies in paragraph 1910.146(k)(3)(ii) that the retrieval equipment must be designed for personnel. The performance-oriented nature of the standard allows flexibility as to the design specifications of the retrieval…...

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PRCS Fatality (O2 Deficient Atm – three attempt rescue)

An Oklahoma City employer’s failure to follow federal safety procedures left a 30-year-old worker suffering fatal asphyxiation as they tried to make repairs inside a water tank at a McClain County well site in September 2023.  Responding to the report of a fatality in Purcell, OSHA investigators determined the worker had entered a permit-required confined…...

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