Permit Required Confined Spaces

Date of Incident  Employer/Address of Incident  Hazard Description  Inspection #  12/4/15 Sulzer Chemtech USA Inc., 39018 Hwy 3089, Donaldsonville, LA  70346 Worker died from exposure to argon while retrieving tool from tank. 1110099 12/1/15 Alexander Petroleum, 612 County Rd.  326, West Jourdanton, TX  78026 Worker asphyxiated while cleaning tank that previously held Petroleum Distillate. 1109329…...

PLEASE NOTE that there is a lack of info from this OSHA summary to establish if this was an issue with the quality of breathing air in the escape pack, a failure in training in how to operate the escape pack, or some other issue(s).  We do know that it was NOT the atmosphere within…...

NFPA 350: Best Practices Guide for Safe Confined Space Entry and Work, 2016 Edition, Table A.10.9.1 – Confined Space Rescue Team, Staffing Decision Table, may be the most important Confined Space document published in 2015.  And that is saying a lot, seeing how OSHA also published their Construction Confined Space standard this summer.   But in…...

NFPA has published their much anticipated guide on Confined Spaces, NFPA 350: Best Practices Guide for Safe Confined Space Entry and Work, 2016 Edition. It became effective on December 4, 2015. This first edition of NFPA 350, Guide for Safe Confined Space Entry and Work, establishes best practices and “how to” for confined space entry…...

1910.146 is pretty clear as to when “entry” has taken place, and 1926.1202 even expands the definition to make it clear that even UNINTENTIONAL breaking of the plane is an “entry.  But why did OSHA say “any part of the body” and not “the head” since the majority of accidents are atmospheric related?  I have…...

OSHA’s Permit Required Confined Space standard has been around since the mid 1990’s and the requirement(s) to perform “program reviews” has been part of the standard from its very beginning.  In a recent OSHRC case, both the Administrative Law Judge and the full commission took issue with a company’s efforts in how they did (or…...

This OSHRC decision reverses an ALJ decision which I posted in August 2013, but this case has some very interesting aspects that EVERYONE who manages a PRCS Entry program needs to read.  Most notably, this case involves:  gas meter maintenance,   program revision/employees not protected, “Conditions” Required for Alternate Entry, program revision/annual permit review, enforcement,…...

I am not sure what transpired with this inspection, but the power plant was also cited for these same violations, but all their citations were DELETED and the penalty reduced to $0.00.  The citations below were to the contractor who was actually doing the work inside the space.  I am not sure, but I would…...