OSHA has announced their Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; Permit-Required Confined Spaces in General Industry Standard. Some of these announcements have some interesting tid-bits in them. This PRCS announcement listed all the documentation one would need to fully comply with 1910.146. Most of us could list many of these items, but…...
The Technical Committee has completed the second draft revisions and, absent any Notice of Intent to Make a Motion (NITMAMs), the new guide will be released this coming November! This document explains “how to” comply with provisions in the existing confined space regulations and standards by providing more detailed guidance on subjects such as hazard…...
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…....
Right after doing our site Confined Space assessment, OSHA says that we must identify spaces deemed to be Permit-Required Confined Spaces. Many facilities order hundreds of signs to put on their spaces at a pretty penny… in other words; it ain’t cheap to label these spaces! So one would think that the labeling/marking would be…...
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…...
