In my experience, I have found most older built cooling towers to be Permit-Required Confined Spaces (PRCS); however, some of the newer designs have addressed the hazards which make these units PRCS (e.g., guarding the fan and shaft within the unit) or these spaces may be eligible for reclassification using 1910.146(c)(7). But this OSHA fatality inspection…...
OSHA cited a South Florida utility company and related contracting company after the agency’s investigation into the deaths of three workers who succumbed to toxic gases in a manhole on Jan. 16, 2017. A 34-year-old pipe layer entered the manhole – a confined space – and quickly became unresponsive. A 49-year-old laborer entered the hole…...
This week I came across a perfect example demonstrating how OSHA’s recent 1926 Subpart AA – Confined Spaces in Construction can impact BOTH construction sites AND workplaces normally covered by General Industry Standards (1910). A lot of businesses who deal with tanker trucks will have a “scale” for weighing these trucks. This week while working at a clients…...
A miner entered a feed hopper to remove bolts on the skirt board. When he heard a bull dozer that typically pushes material into the hopper approaching, the miner tried to escape through the opening at the bottom of the hopper. The bull dozer pushed material into the hopper, unaware that the miner was inside, burying him up to his…...
On May 4, 2015, OSHA issued a new standard for CONSTRUCTION WORK IN CONFINED SPACES, which became effective August 3, 2015. This is a summary of OSHA activity for this new standard during the period October 2015 through September 2016. Penalties shown reflect current rather than initial amounts. For more information, see definitions. 1926.1203 – General…...
PLEASE NOTE: This article may contain grammar errors, as this is my response to the more than 60 messages I received in the past seven days regarding last week’s article, When contractors enter a host’s PRCSs (1910.146(c)(8)(iii). I have put this together tonight so as to not keep any of those who contacted me…...
A fatal incident occurred when an Assistant Driller (AD) placed his head and an arm into a platform drilling rig’s vertical Mud/Gas Separator (MGS) through its inspection hatch, while performing the assigned, but non-routine task of removing built up and hardened material from inside the MGS. A BSEE Panel investigation identified a number of established Safe Work Practices (SWPs)…...
What obligations does the host employer have when they hire a contractor to work within one of their Permit-Required Confined Spaces (PRCS)? The answer seems to be all over the map, depending on the industry where the space is located, the size of the company, the company’s written program, etc. This article is intended to…...
This week I received this e-mail from a long-time SAFTENG member. Mike is a safety pro in the construction industry and he is trying to comply with OSHA’s new Confined Spaces in Construction, specifically, Mike has learned the hard-way that “rescue plans” can not be the proverbial “911 Rescue Plan”. Here is Mike in his…...
No fewer than 60 fatal and non-fatal cases were documented in 2016. Of these, 30 (50%) were fatal and 29 (48%) of those cases were directly related to grain entrapments. In addition to the cases documented in 2016, cases that occurred in previous years continue to be added to the database due to ongoing discovery efforts. The total…...
The IRSST (Canada) just published a new research report to contribute to confined space accident prevention by helping companies apply existing regulations. Researchers wanted to gain a better understanding of confined space risk management and identify issues based on the literature and field observations, and develop a confined space risk analysis and work categorization tool…...
So what exactly does OSHA mean when they say… Develop and implement the means, procedures, and practices necessary for safe permit space entry operations, including, but not limited to, the following:…1910.146(d)(3)(iii) Isolating the permit space It is not uncommon to find spaces entered with NO isolation of the space and there tends to still be…...
