Fundamentally, employers and employees must be alert to the fact that working with a “closed system” does not always ensure safety. Operations involving the opening of valves or pumps on otherwise closed systems or working on such equipment that is not isolated or locked/tagged out are particular sources of danger. When a normally closed system is opened, the potential exists for releasing hazardous chemicals into the workplace in unknown concentrations.
Examples of Accidents:
OSHA reviewed previous fatality inspections involving the opening of valves or piping systems and found numerous incidents where one or more workers had died. Some examples of these types of accidents included: