A short presentation I used in 2015

1. Confined Space
johnanewquist@gmail.com
Draft 1 8 2016

2. June 2014
• A specially trained Pekin
Fire Department rescue
team, which arrived
within several minutes
of the accident report
about noon, entered
the tanker with oxygen
tanks and masks to pull
the victims out by
winch and rope.
2
Hydrogen sulfide blocks
oxygen from binding with
blood cells

3. August 2013
• Robert Honomichl, 55, and
Minden NE Utilities
Superintendent Mike Kleen, 51,
were clearing a blockage in a
sewer line when they were
overcome by the toxic gases in
the manhole where they were
working Sunday afternoon.
• Honomichl passed away August
13, 2013

4. July 2013
• Tampa FL
• A 24-year-old man died
and his father is in
critical condition after
losing consciousness
and being pulled from
inside an empty asphalt
tanker truck Saturday,
authorities said.

5. 2013 NC
• Autopsy: Catawba plant worker
died of hydrogen sulfide
intoxication
Samir Storey, 39 and others were
cleaning a 10-by-40-foot tank
• “clear, cloudy smoke” entered the
tank, triggering emergency
alarms, which trapped Samir in
the tank.
• Hydrogen sulfide affects the body
in two ways, she said. It blocks
oxygen from binding with blood
cells, and it interrupts the central
nervous system, which, in turn,
affects the respiratory system.

6. May 2013
• WAUCEDAH TOWNSHIP, Mich
• Worker climbed into the 12-foot-
deep well in Dickinson County's
Waucedah Township on
Wednesday afternoon to make
repairs.
• State police say a friend lowered
dry ice into the well that was to
be used in the repair, but the dry
ice reacted and used up oxygen at
the bottom of the well.
• Police say the man lost
consciousness while trying to
climb out and the friend called
911. Rescue crews got the man
out, but he died.

7. Nov 2012 IL
• Tank 50 feet high
• 28 inch opening
• Methylene chloride
• Contracted a cleaning
company to do the
work.
Fall protection should be provided on
tanks 4 feet high.

8. Aug 2012
• Steven Webb, 53, of
House Springs, MO died
in a confined space on
August 28, 2012.
• He was overcome by
exposure to methyl
ethyl ketone collapsed
and died inside an 18-
foot-deep vault
manhole.

9. 2012
• Worker engulfed in a sand
bin at precast plant.
• Plant employees attempted
to rescue the worker for
more than an hour before
the company summoned
emergency assistance.
• Worker suffered serious
crushing injuries.
• Proposed fines total
$70,000.

10. Grain Fire
• Jan. 13, 1996
• Seward IL
• The Stickle employee collapsed
and died due to carbon monoxide
inhalation.
• After entering the bin, Pecatonica
Fire Department Chief Dale
Zimmerman became lethargic
and was physically unable to
climb the ladder to exit the bin.
• William J. Kirchner, 54, of Leaf
River, IL, manager of Fasco's
Seward elevator, pleaded guilty
to a misdemeanor charge of
making false statements on a
document
Victor A. Randolph, 42, of Cedar
Rapids, a vice president of Stickle,
indicted for obstructing an OSHA
investigation and making a false
document concerning workplace
safety violations. Three years
probation. $10,000 fine.

11. 2006 SIGCASE
• $153,450 in WI case
• Employee working inside a
grain bin became engulfed
in soybeans.
• Willful for failing to prohibit
employees from walking on
grain that was moving out
of the grain bin via gravity
chute
• No fall protection/harness
when entering through the
top hatch.

12. 2010 IL
• Mt. Carroll, IL
• Haasbach LLC sent Will Piper 16,
Alex Pacas 19, and Wyatt
Whitebread 14, into the grain
bin.
• 179 grain entrapment deaths
since 1984
• Michaels also says OSHA has
urged both state and federal
prosecutors to file criminal
charges. "We don't have criminal
prosecution powers," he says.

13. Confined Space Most Cited
• Not evaluating confined
spaces
• No Confined Space
signs
• No written Confined
Space Program
• No Permit before Entry
• Employee Training
• No Rescue Provisions
• Not testing the
Confined Space
• Not developing safe
permit entry operations
• Entry Supervisor not
verifying tests were
conducted
• No retrieval system
where practical

14. Examples
• Manholes
• Grain Bins
• Tanks
• Vaults

15. History
• No standard for years -
proposed 1976
• Film Recovery – Hydrogen
cyanide -1983
• ANSI Z117
• General Duty Clause
• OSHA 1910.146 published
in 1993

16. Statistics
• Over 224,000 worksites have permit spaces
• Over 2.1 million workers enter permit spaces
annually
• Compliance with 1910.146 will save:
- at least 53 worker deaths
- 4,900 lost workday cases
- 5,700 non lost-time accidents ANNUALLY

17. Idaho 2000
• Allan Elias, 61, was ordered
to serve 17 years in Jail
• $6.3M in restitution
• Told workers to clean
cyanide tank without
respirators
• Employee suffered
permanent brain damage

18. Confined Space
A space that:
 Is large enough and so
configured that an
employee can bodily
enter and perform
assigned work
 Has limited or restricted
entry/exit means
 Is not designed for
continuous Employee
occupancy

19. Permit Space
• a risk of death,
incapacitation, injury or
acute illness
• flammable gases
• oxygen deficient
• toxic atmosphere
• engulfment,
• other serious physical
hazards

20. Permits
• The following permit has been designed to assist in protecting persons entering confined spaces. It shall be completed before any
employee enters a space designated as a "Permit-Required Confined Space". Only individuals that have received Confined Space
Training shall be authorized to complete this permit. All questions that are not applicable to the entry are to be answered as "N/A".
This section is to be completed by the confined space entry supervisor.
• IDENTIFICATION Location_________________________________________________________________________
Date: Expiration Date: Time: am pm
• Note: This Permit is valid for one entry team during a single entry. Maximum duration of the permit will be 8 hours . All copies shall
remain at the job site until work has been completed.
Description of Space: _______________________________________________________________________________
Reason for entry: (e.g., welding, cleaning, etc.)__________________________________________________________
• AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL (list)
• Entrants Attendants Contractors
• EQUIPMENT REQUIRED
• What type of communication equipment will be used to maintain contact with entrants? ( ) radio ( ) phone ( ) visual contact ( ) other
____________
What type of communication equipment will be available to contact emergency services? ( ) radio ( ) phone
Is respiratory protective equipment required for this job? ( )Yes ( )No
If yes, has each member of the entry team completed respirator training, physicals and fit testing?
• ( )Yes ( )No If yes, what type? ( ) SCBA ( ) supplied air ( ) PAPR ( ) full face ( ) half mask cartridge used: _______
Is personal protective clothing required for this job? ( )Yes ( )No If yes, What type? ( ) coveralls ( ) splash suit ( ) leather gloves (
) chemical gloves ( ) goggles ( ) face shield ( ) ear plugs ( ) ear muffs ( ) hard hat ( ) welding hood ( ) welding gloves ( )
welding jacket ( ) safety boots ( ) chemical boots ( ) other_______
What types of hazardous energy may be present?
( ) electrical ( ) mechanical ( ) hydraulic ( )chemical ( )pneumatic ( ) thermal
How will these hazards be eliminated or controlled? ___________________________________________________
• What other hazards may the worker be exposed to? ___________________________________________________
• Supervisor's Name (Print)_______________ Signature________________________ Date_____________
• This section is to be completed by the attendant.
ATMOSPHERIC TESTING
• Type of gas monitor____________________ Date of last calibration ________________________________
• Oxygen (between 19.5% and 23.5%) ____ Flammables/combustibles (less than 10% of L.E.L.) ____
• TOXIC CONTAMINANTS
• Chemical Name ______ (Is the SDS present?) __________ PEL #1 ____ #2 ____ #3 ____ #4 _____
• THIS PERMIT MUST BE POSTED NEAR THE ENTRANCE OF THE SPACE DURING ENTRY
THIS ENTRY MUST BE REGISTERED WITH THE SAFETY DIRECTOR PRIOR TO ENTRY
Check List(Initial the appropriate box) All warning/caution signs, barricades, etc. are posted and in place. _____
• Hazardous energy has been locked and tagged. _______
• An emergency escape plan has been developed. _______
• Safety life lines and retrieval system are secured and in place, _______
• Space has been properly ventilated. ______
• Required personal protective equipment is available and in use. ______

21. Signs
• Required for permit
confined spaces

22. Motel Fatality
• 2002 - IL
• Worker goes to restart
pump
• Passes out and dies
• 5 feet deep

23. Atmosphere
Atmosphere that is hazardous if:
1) Oxygen concentration less than 19.5% OR
greater than 23.5%
2) Flammable gas, vapor or mist in excess of 10% of LEL
3) Airborne combustible dust at level equal or greater
than LFL (or wherever dust obscures vision at 5 feet
(1.52 m) or less

24. Non Permit Spaces
• All other serious
hazards have been
controlled
• Air monitoring data to
show that the air
quality is safe or
• Continuous force air
ventilation presents no
hazards
Underground storage
vault

25. Machine Pit
• 1989 - IL
• Pit measured 12 ' x 20' x
12' deep
• Carbon Monoxide
pulled into pit from
heating operations
• One died, one nausea
• 4 rescuers hospitalized
Typical Machine pit

26. Monitoring
• Monitor for YOUR
hazards
• Calibrate your monitor
– ensure the validity of
your sensors
• Calibration must occur
in clean air

27. Electric Vault Fire
• 1992
• Workers trying to dry water
out a vault with a propane
heater
• Left on overnight
• Lit match to see and
propane cause explosion
• No monitoring performed

28. Respirators Considerations
• Identify your hazards
• Refer to respirator
standard 1910.134
• Enforce the respiratory
protection that in in the
program

29. Foundry
• 2002
• Workers sent into a
large cupola to remove
a plate
• Wore SCBAs, but never
trained or used SCBA
before
• CO 200+ ppm
Typical Small
Cupola

30. Entry
• Action where the
entrant passes through
the opening into the
permit space to
perform work
NOTE: Entry is considered to have occurred when
any part of the entrant’s body breaks the plane of the
opening.

31. Chemical Plant
• 1989
• Worker went into vessel
• Used 100% nitrogen to
cool himself off
• Passed out

32. Supervisors
• (35%) of the workers killed
in confined spaces were
supervisors
• Acceptable entry conditions
must be present
• Authorizes entry and
oversees entry operations
• Initiates termination of
entry

33. Bastian Plating
• June 26, 1988 - IN
• Worker asphyxiated while
acid cleaning out a tank.
• The 5’ x 4’ x 5’ tank had
been treated with zinc
cyanide
• Four coworkers, aged 19 to
25, were subsequently
asphyxiated one by one as
they tried to save their
friend.
Typical Plating Tank

34. Attendant
• Individual stationed
outside the permit
space who monitors
entrants
• Must have
communication
• Can alert rescue
• Does not enter

35. Water Vault
• 1995 - IL
• Two workers sent to
turn on a water valve in
a 22 foot deep dry well.
Both died.
• Ladders were rusty (sign
of potential oxygen
deficiency.)
• Stagnant water at the
bottom
• No Attendant
Example of a water
pit

36. Training
• For employees,
confined space training
must be before being
assigned to enter the
space.
 Provide advisory
training prior to entry of
any space

37. Manufacturing
• 1995 - IL
• Open pit 45’ x’ 60’
• Argon gas had been
used instead of
compressed air to
operate a pump that
removed water from
the pit.
• 3 died
Typical Machine Pit

38. Argon
• Several multiple
fatalities where
argon is used.
• Inert, colorless,
odorless.
• Much more heavier
than air.

39. Retrival
Equipment for non-entry
rescue of personnel
from a permit space:
• Full-body harness
• Retrieval line
• Wristlets
• Lifting Device or Anchor

40. Rescue
• Sixty percent (60%) of all
confined space deaths were
the would-be-rescuers
• Rescue equipment must be
maintained
• Run practice drills

41. Summary
• Carbon Dioxide,
Carbon Monoxide
and Argon are
colorless, odorless
gases.
• Constant Monitoring
• Constant Ventilation
• Train
• Rescue

42. Questions?