I am pretty confident in my position, but my friend and one hell of a safety pro has me second-guessing myself. So I thought this would be a good scenario to debate amongst the SAFTENG members. I will not bias the discussion with my position, but I will add mine after a dozen or so…...
This tragedy is a sad example of why OSHA says… Entry … is considered to have occurred as soon as any part of the entrant’s body breaks the plane of an opening into the space. I am not sold on MSHA’s Root Cause Analysis, but we can all learn a lot from this tragedy and…...
Two (2) sanitation workers were killed, and a third was hospitalized in critical condition after they inhaled toxic fumes while cleaning a sewer line. The incident took place around 10.30 pm. The workers were employees of the local Municipality. “Preliminary investigation revealed that the first worker entered the sewer and failed to come out for a…...
Employee #1, a warehouse operator, dropped his safety glasses into the compartment of a railroad tank car that was being filled with aerosol. The aerosol was blown through a line by low-pressure nitrogen (N2) gas. After Employee #1 notified coworkers and his supervisor, the material flow was turned off, but NOT the gas. Wearing an…...
Three workers died, and one is critical after suspected asphyxiation in an underground effluent treatment plant (ETP) tank at a dyeing mill. The condition of another worker remains critical, and he is undergoing treatment at a hospital… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership LevelsAlready a member? Log in here...
An employee at a tank manufacturing facility has died following an industrial incident on Monday. Firefighters responded to a report of a burn injury. Firefighters stabilized the patient, who was taken to a hospital, where the patient died. A special operations crew and a police crew responded to investigate the scene but found nothing suspicious…....
I see this set up all the time… a business declares a space a Confined Space (NOT a Permit-Required Confined Space), just a simple space that meets the definition of a CS; however, it does not have a hazard that would make the CS a PRCS. So the question is… Does a “DANGER” sign belong…...
When we talk about Lower Explosive Limits, most people imagine a flash-fire hazard (as they should!). But when a worker is in a flammable atmosphere, they are also being WAY OVER EXPOSED. Take the following OSHA PRCS fatality case, where the worker died from being overexposed to organic vapors. The Atlantic City Fire Department Confined…...
An accident at a Winery in California may have caused the death of a 20-year-old winery worker on Friday, Jan. 8. He was found inside a 1,500-gallon tank and apparently died from asphyxiation. “We’re still trying to figure out exactly what happened,” said the winery president. “He was a wonderful person, a fabulous worker, and…...
Of the four crewmembers involved in the incident, two are deceased. The other two crewmembers are reported to be in stable condition. Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska command center in Juneau received a mayday call at 9:14 a.m. Sunday that the crew of the tug vessel Chukchi Sea lost contact with four…...
In our PSM/RMP and OSH audits, we always spend more time on the Life Safety Standards, such as PRCS, LOTO, LEO, Respiratory Protection, etc. One of the most common errors we find in these audits is the lack of training for the attendants. It’s not that they are not meeting 1910.146(i)(1) – 1910.146(i)(10) training obligations;…...
OSHA has cited a petroleum tank services contractor for exposing workers to chemical and respiratory hazards after an employee was fatally exposed to benzene and toluene when they entered a fuel storage tank in July 2025. Investigators cited the company with 12 serious violations for failing to develop and implement a written permit-required space entry…...
