Permit Required Confined Spaces

As the debate rages on regarding rescue services, there is ONE SMALL and SIMPLE requirement that would STOP ALL entries… 1910.146(j) Duties of entry supervisors. The employer shall ensure that each entry supervisor: … 1910.146(j)(4) Verifies that rescue services are available and that the means for summoning them are operable; This Entry Supervisor REQUIREMENT could…...

Seven (7)  incidents were found in a search for firefighter fatalities involving confined spaces.  Eight firefighters were killed in these seven incidents.  The victims were not necessarily in the confined spaces when fatally injured. Five of the seven incidents were investigated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (NIOSH). The investigation summaries and…...

This is a slippery slope for us and OSHA to walk.  It is clearly a requirement when contractors enter our Permit Required Confined Spaces (PRCS), but how do we demonstrate that we are indeed “debriefing” these contractors as required by 1910.146(c)(8)(v)?  What do we have on hand that can show all entries involving contractors involved…...

Employees risked potentially lethal suffocation caused by dangerous fumes as the company did not test the atmosphere and properly ventilate the air in food transport tankers before allowing workers to enter. After receiving an employee complaint, OSHA initiated an investigation on Aug. 6, 2014, at the tank-cleaning facility. The agency issued two willful and six…...

This fatal Hotwork Incident is a reminder of the dangers of welding inside Confined Spaces, ESPECIALLY those that contained a flammable liquid or gas!  The USCG did an excellent job with this investigation and report, laying out the timeline and facts leading up to this incident that caused this incident to occur.  It is a…...

This incident information refers to an accident that occurred onboard an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico during maintenance and repair operations to clean several production vessels, including a high-pressure separator, the floatation cell, the wet-oil tank, and two stacked low-pressure separators, upper and lower. A flash fire ignited within one of the vessel’s causing injuries to four crew members…....

Two workers were killed while cleaning rail cars and were exposed to a dangerous amount of hydrogen sulfide gas.  The primary cause of death of both employees was closed space asphyxiation and hydrogen sulfide intoxication, a byproduct of the residual organic waste contained in the tank. OSHA determined that neither victim was equipped with an…...

The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), also known as WA-OSHA, has cited a landscaping business for multiple safety violations related to the death of a worker, 19, last July. He was killed by a rotating auger while working inside the hopper of a bark-blower truck.  The company has been cited for two willful and…...

This Approved Code of Practice (ACOP) and guidance is for those who work or control work in confined spaces.  It explains the definition of a confined space in the Regulations and gives examples. It will help you assess the risk of working within a particular confined space and put precautions in place for work to…...

Violations of permit confined spaces safety regulations led to the death of a worker, 23, on June 19, 2014, at a producer and distributor of food products. The worker was found unresponsive in a tanker truck at the facility. He was conducting sampling of the tank, which contained egg products and nitrogen. OSHA has cited…...

OSHA found that an environmental remediation company did not have the equipment or trained personnel to rescue a 27-year-old worker promptly who collapsed and later died while cleaning a rail car. OSHA has cited seven willful and 14 serious safety violations, many involving permit-required confined space safety regulations. The company has also been placed in…...