I have several clients who offload ships/containers in this manner. Whenever I see this, I immediately go to “that is a PRCS”. The ship/container is for sure a CS, and the fact that we have an engine putting off CO inside the ship/container makes the space a PRCS. I am fortunate enough to have great clients who think about it and have agreed there is a risk in practice. But last month, I was at a facility, and I came across this. Their response, from their lawyer – not a safety professional… “1910.146 does not apply to that, so if you cant show us a Maritime Standard that we are violating, we want this removed from the report.”
What is your take?
The best I could maritime standard I could find is 1917.23 – Hazardous atmospheres and substances (see also §1917.2 Hazardous cargo, material, substance or atmosphere) , which leads us to 1917.23 Carbon Monoxide in enclosed spaces. The facility claimed the 40′ deep, open-top container was not “enclosed”. As well they made the point that 1912.2 defines a Confined Space in the maritime industry as:
Confined space means: A space having all of the following characteristics:
- Small size;
- Severely limited natural ventilation;
- Capability to accumulate or contain a hazardous atmosphere;
- Exits that are not readily accessible; and
- A design not meant for continuous human occupancy.
OSHA also defines an Enclosed space as
“an indoor space, other than a confined space, that may contain or accumulate a hazardous atmosphere due to inadequate natural ventilation. Examples of enclosed spaces are trailers, railcars, and storage rooms.”
As a nation, we need to move beyond this OSHA game and the excuse, “this is an industry-accepted practice (e.g., everyone does it, so it must be safe).”
By the way, it is pretty sad when the definition does NOT actually DEFINE & QUANTIFY the phrase.
How many of us can agree on the phrases “small size” and “severely limited”?
