On June 3, 2024, an employee working as a laborer for a meat rendering plant was unloading blood meal from a trailer (grain hopper type). During the offloading process, the employee worked inside a fully loaded trailer hopper to free up hung up (stuck) blood meal. The employee was standing on the blood meal when
On June 13, 2024, two (2) employees, 29 and 33, working as laborers for a dairy support service, were filling a Diller Model #STAL7250 Manure Tanker (Serial# LD9TA33ZXMC804135). The rubber pipe sock came off the Jamesway manure filler pipe. Employee #1 entered the tanker to retrieve the pipe sock and was overcome. Employee #2 entered
The revised Code of Practice for Safety and Health at Work in Confined Spaces (CoP) will officially take effect tomorrow (November 30). The CoP was gazetted on May 31 this year, and a grace period of six months was provided to allow sufficient time for the industry to understand and prepare for the revised requirements.
On May 29, 2024, at 3:22 p.m., Employee #1, 26, was attempting to rescue a fellow employee who had been overcome by hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas in an underground pump house. Prior to this incident, multiple coworkers had been working in the pump house and were exposed to H2S gas emitted from a pipe containing
On January 18, 2024, at 9:15 a.m., Employee #1, 37, was working inside a 7,000-gallon tanker trailer. Employee #1 was tasked with inspecting the damage to the interior of the tanker. Employee #1 was in the early stages of the tank inspection when he lost consciousness. A coworker noticed Employee #1 lost consciousness, and s/he
On April 3, 2024, at 9:00 a.m., an employee, 44, working as a plant operator for a building materials manufacturer was reinstalling mixer blades onto the shaft inside a Vince Hagan HM-10 Horizontal Concrete Mixer. The employee had been on a crew between January 2024 and April 2024 engaged in the shaft and blade replacement
This can be related to process vessels, hoppers, pits, etc.- just about any “open-topped” space. Now, when it comes to hoppers, these will fall into the PRCS category based solely on their design with “inwardly converging walls or by a floor which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section.” But even then, a very
As I have mentioned a few times, there is a substantial difference between a Safe Work Practice design to make OSHA happy and one that functions as a “management system” for the risk the “program” is trying to control. Far too many “safety programs” are simply regurgitating the OSHA standards they intend to comply with.
The following are my tips to ensure PRCS are properly ventilated when necessary. Far too often, ventilation is nothing more than a “nice effort,” which can lead to disastrous results. So, in my time in safety at petrochemical and semiconductor facilities, the safety team managed the ventilation equipment (blowers and flexible ductwork). Still, the entry
I was working on another PRCS Entry program this week and thought I would offer some tidbits I include in my programs regarding: My programs are lengthy and are intended to include every aspect of managing the risks associated with working around and inside PRCSs. SPACE ISOLATION ALL connections to a confined space that can
In an ordinary setting (i.e., one without flammable gases or vapors), its use is typically not considered Hot Work by many. We always managed the hazards/risks when their use was not part of a formal hazard assessment for production/shipping. But when a heat gun was used as part of maintenance activities in an area where
I have this debate several times a year, and I always go to the “note” in 1910.146 related to the definition of “atmospheric hazards”. And that is never enough to convince people that 1910.146 deals ONLY with ACUTE responses to atmospheric hazards – NOT chronic responses. Now, let’s be clear, atmospheric hazards that are chronic
