Transcript Confined Space Awareness - American Public Power Association

Confined Space and Metro Fire
Rescue 21
&
Engine 21
Rescue 21
Staffing of 4
High angle/low angle rope
 Building collapse
 Water
 Confined space
 Trench
 RIC -Rapid Intervention Crew
 Vehicle Extrication

Engine 21
Staffing of 3
Cross Trained
 ALS (Paramedic)
 Hose, Water & pump
 General Firefighting

What to expect from Metro Fire
First due engine company
 Medic (ambulance)
 Battalion Chief
 Closet Truck Company
 Rescue 21 & Engine 21
 Hazardous Materials unit
 Overhead personnel (PIO)

Recognize the Danger:
A major cause of confined space
injuries/fatalities is the failure to
recognize the incident for what it
is….
A CONFINED SPACE INCIDENT !
Always keep in mind
The Survival Profile of Victim !!!!!
 According to statistic we are going after
victims not patients
 Provision for non-entry rescue
 Every C.S. incident will be investigated by
OSHA.
 Entry into a C.S. is mission specific

OSHA will be looking for…
The C.S. to determine if it meets the
requirements for a Permit Required
Confined Space (p.r.s.c.)
 Two permits
 Training records (authorized)
 Provision(s) for non-entry rescue

3 Most Common OSHA Citations
issued in Calif.

Failure to provide hazard(s) communication
to rescuers

Failure to provide appropriate equipment

Failure to provide training on equipment
Regulations

AB 111 = negligent supervisor

AB 1127 “The Big One” Jan. 2000

Title 8 CCR GISO 5156, 5157 & 5158
Assembly Bill 111
One of the first regulatory laws
enacted to hold C.S. entrants
accountable.
AB 1127 “$$”
Enacted in January 2000. Says we
show up, allow something to happen,
somebody gets injured/killed, we
share responsibility.
Is Prosecuted as a Felony!!
Title 8 CCR, 5156…
Grants an exclusion to
- Construction operations
- Agricultural operations
- Marine terminal operations
- Shipyard operations
- Telecommunications manholes/Vaults
- Grain handling facilities
- Natural gas distribution
- Electrical utility operations underground vaults
Title 8 CCR, 5157…
Specific requirements on how to enter a
Permit Required Confined Space.
 Applies to Rescue Companies
 Lists the mandatory components
 Includes appendices that may be
enforceable by OSHA

Title 8 CCR, 5158…

Lists requirements for those 8 industries
that are exempted under 5156(b) (2)
A Confined Space is…
An area large enough and so configured that
an employee can bodily enter to perform
assigned work and:
 Has limited or restricted means for
entry/egress and;
 Is not designed for continuous employee
occupancy

Types of Confined Spaces
Sewers
 Railroads Cars
 Vaults and pits
 Vessels, silos, storage bins
 Hoppers, pipelines

Reason for Entering A Confined
Space
Cleaning
 Inspections
 Maintenance
 Training
 Rescue

A Permit Required Confined
Space…




Contains or has the potential to contain a
hazardous atmosphere or,
Contains a material that has the potential for
engulfing an entrant or,
Has an internal configuration such that an entrant
could become trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly
converging walls or by a floor which slopes
downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section or,
Contains any other recognized serious safety or
health hazard
Silos
Industrial
or
Agricultural
Manholes
Sanitary
or
Storm
What are the Hazards to Rescuers
at C.S. incidents?
Atmosphere 65%
 Engulfment 13%

Bridging
Physical
7%
 Corrosive
 Biological
 Psychological

OSHA Says these are Mandatory
Positions




Entry Supervisor
Attendant
Entrant
Back-up entrant
What is an Entry?
The action by which a person passes
through an opening into a permit
required confined space, and includes
ensuing work activities in that space
Considered to have occurred as soon as
any part of the entrants body breaks the
plane of an opening into the space
Mandatory Components for a
C.S. entry









Written Policy (including Permit)
Lock out/Tag out
Provide rescue/standby
Atmospheric monitoring
Communications
Ventilation (unless it increases hazard)
Retrieval Line (provision for non-entry rescue)
Appropriate harness
Mechanical Advantage if > 5’ fall
Lock Out/Tag Out is….
Isolation
Purging
Inerting
Ventilation
Barricades
Lock out/tag out
Lock-Out/Tag-Out Kit
Padlocks
 Hasps & tags
 Plug & valve covers
 Chain
 Electrical Tester

Reasons for Monitoring
Assess the survival profile of the victim
 Atmospheres are the #1 killer of C.S.
occupants

Hazardous Atmospheres
Oxygen levels below 19.5% or above
23.5%
 Atmosphere at or above 10% of the LEL
 Airborne combustible dusts which reduce
vision to 5’ or less
 Atmosphere with products/vapors at or
above their IDLH levels.

What are we monitoring for ?

Oxygen

Flammable/Explosive atmospheres

Selected toxics
Usually CO & H2S
Oxygen
-Recorded as a %
-OSHA says 19.5% - 23.5% is
acceptable entry range
-Oxygen is always checked first
Flammable or Explosive
atmospheres
Usually recorded as % LEL. ppm or % gas
10% of the LEL is the upper limit for entry
Difference between LEL 100% & vapor
100%
EXPLOSIVE RANGE
Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) vs Upper Explosive Limit (UEL)
AIR
COMBUSTIBLES
(Too lean to burn)
Explosive Range
LEL
(Too rich to burn)
UEL
Hydrogen Sulfide H2S
Colorless, odor of rotten eggs
- Destroys olfactory senses
- Ppm, 10 ppm entry limit
-
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Colorless, odorless, explosive
- ppm
- 25 ppm is limit for entry
-
How we monitor
Prior to entry (approach monitoring)
 Continuously during entry
 At 4’ intervals
 DOCUMENT

Communications
5157 states mandatory between Attendant &
Entrant
 Radio
 Hardwired
 Rope signals O.A.T.H.

Ventilation
Increases survivability profile
- reduces LEL’s to safe levels
- temperature conducive for human
habitation
 Replaces contaminated air
Air exchanges


Reduces explosion chances
Retrieval System
The equipment including a retrieval line,
class III harness, wristlets, if appropriate,
(and lifting device) used for non-entry
rescue of workers from a permit-required
confined space
Mechanical Advantage
Required for vertical C.S. more than 5’
deep
 Hand operated, approved winch w/ cable
 Rope and pulleys with brake
 Not considered the retrieval line

Types of Respiratory Protection
APR - Air Purifying Respirator
 SCBA – Self Contained Breathing
Apparatus
 SAR - Supplied Air Respirator

Recognize exposure to yourself
& co-workers
Headache
 Dizziness
 Nausea
 Smell or rotten eggs
 Euphoria

Any Questions?
Thank you