Confined spaces come in many forms — from silos and storage bins to tanks and maintenance holes. Every confined space presents hazards to those who enter and operate within them.
Natural and artificial disasters aren’t always preventable. In fact, they’re likely to become even more frequent in years to come. And, once the wildfire is extinguished or the storm has passed, that doesn’t mean the danger is over. How can we protect disaster cleanup teams from these safety risks?
You’ve probably heard confined space horror stories a million times. The person inside a confined space becomes unresponsive. Training all workers before they work in confined spaces is a must, but in reality not every job is performed under ideal conditions.
Confined spaces can present severe safety hazards to the people working in them. To address these risks, OSHA created standards to make sure workers can get in and out safely, and do their jobs without endangering their health.
There are only two programs that I believe require repeated discussions because failure to do things right in either of them can lead to death. Those programs are LOTO and Confined Space Entry.
Many of you have good ideas for OSHA. I know it is true because I got and used many ideas the public sent to OSHA on proposed regulations and on the OSHA Expert Advisor projects over my 27 years of work at the organization.
Wastewater plants are full of confined spaces, like recirculation pits, clarifier tanks, and wet wells. These spaces alone can be hazardous, and the danger only increases when you consider the gases that can permeate the air at wastewater treatment facilities.
