Permit Required Confined Spaces

OSHA PRCS citations @ Concrete Plant ($140,000)

OSHA conducted a sweeping inspection of a company that employs about 300 workers at an array of businesses, including a dairy and creamery, farm, concrete plant, auto repair, welding shop, restaurants and lodging, a telecommunications company, graphic design firm and a convenience store.  This company has had three (3) fatalities since 2012 within their businesses and

OSHA S&H Bulletin – Hazards when Purging Hydrogen Gas-Cooled Electric Generators (SHIB 01-22-2016)

U.S. Department of LaborOccupational Safety and Health AdministrationDirectorate of Technical Support and Emergency ManagementOffice of Science and Technology Assessment Introduction Many electric power plants now use hydrogen gas-cooled electric generators versus air- or water-cooled generators. To prevent injury or fatality, employers must ensure hydrogen gas is completely purged from generator housings and bushing boxes before

Does 1910.146 allow (c)(5) AND (c)(7) to be used on the same PRCS at the same time?

As we know, 1910.146 gives employers three (3) methods to enter Permit-Required Confined Spaces: 1) Full permitted entry following (d)-(k), 2) alternative entry methods prescribed in (c)(5), and 3) reclassification of the PRCS to a non-permit space by following (c)(7). However, in the past year or so, we have come across another method… using BOTH

Temporary Enforcement Policy for Residential Construction Work in Confined Spaces (1/2016)

U.S. Department of Labor        Occupational Safety and Health Administration Washington, D.C. 20210   Reply to the attention of: Jan 06 2016 Memorandum For:  REGIONAL ADMINISTRATORS AND STATE PLAN DESIGNEES THROUGH:   DOROTHY DOUGHERTY, Deputy Assistant Secretary From: DEAN MCKENZIE, Acting Director Directorate of Construction Subject:  Temporary Enforcement Policy for Residential Construction Work in Confined Spaces

Tough start for PRCS Fatalities into OSHA’s 2016

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

Scaffolder falls from height in a process vessel at a refinery – fatal

On 25 November 2015, a scaffolder died after falling into a process vessel at a refinery.  A bank of six digesters at the refinery had been off-line for maintenance and refurbishment work since July 2015. All pipework had been disconnected and scaffolding installed in August for refurbishment work inside the digesters. When the refurbishment work was almost

NFPA 350, Table A.10.9.1 may be the MOST IMPORTANT Confined Space document published in 2015

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

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