Welcome to the Confined Space re-certification for 2020

Motivation

Confined spaces exist not only in industrial worksites, but at many other workplaces, including schools, farms, hospitals, etc. Confined spaces may potentially contain many hazards that do not exist in normally inhabited areas, such as hazardous or toxic atmospheres, electrical hazards, engulfment hazards, etc. According to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (2019), there were 31 deaths related to confined spaces in 2018.

Employers are required by OSHA to identify a means of rescue for employees that may become endangered upon entering confined spaces. Where employees themselves are not trained to provide these rescue services, the employer may designate an emergency response service as the rescuer for confined space entrants, which is where we come in. Note, only personnel trained to the Confined Space Technical Rescuer standard may enter confined spaces-this refresher does not grant you the training to enter confined spaces and only acts as a refresher for awareness level response. Confined space rescue calls in Montgomery County requiring entry are ultimately mitigated by the Technical Rescue Team. All personnel who will be entering confined spaces to perform rescue operations must meet the regulations defined in OSHA 1910.146(k)(2).

The objectives of this refresher training are to provide you with a review of confined space concepts as they relate to initial response and scene preparation. After a review of the material contained herein, personnel are expected to take and pass an exam to an accuracy of at least 80%.

Definitions

According to OSHA, a confined space is a space that:

"(1) Is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work; and

(2) Has limited or restricted means for entry or exit (for example, tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, and pits are spaces that may have limited means of entry.); and

(3) Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy."

According to OSHA, a permit-required confined space is a space that has one or more of the following characteristics:

(1) Contains or has a potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere;

(2) Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant;

(3) Has an internal configuration such that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section; or

(4) Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard.

For the definitions of additional terms relating to confined space entry, such as attendant, authorized entrant, engulfment, entry, entry supervisor, and hazardous atmosphere, you may review 1910.146(b). Knowledge of definitions relating to confined space entry may be tested on the exam.

Case Reviews

The following case reviews developed by OSHA highlight the dangerous nature of working in confined spaces and the types of emergencies responders may be called on to assist with.

What do these videos tell us?

Workers:

• Fail to recognize hazards;
• Underestimate the dangers;
• Become complacent;

You may add the fact that workers will also frequently try to save their partner, without regard for the dangers of the confined space themselves.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Investigations

Following are a couple links to NIOSH investigations into firefighter deaths related to confined space entry. Please review the information and think about the training you receive and policies and procedures that are in place to reduce your exposure to the risks of confined space operations.

December 12, 2011, New York

December 15, 1990, Pennsylvania

Here is a link to a NIOSH report/alert publication that provides a short synopsis to several confined space incidents where fatalities occurred. The information is very useful in highlighting the various situations rescuers may find themselves in when it comes to confined spaces.

Initial Response

Just like every other call that has the potential to require a specialty team response, i.e. water, rail, collapse, trench, etc., personnel need to slow down and perform a thorough assessment of the factors leading up to the scene (weather, time of day, possible human population), then the scene itself (access, terrain, hazards, exposures), and use this information to perform a risk/benefit analysis and determine an action plan that can be clearly communicated to others on the call.

Some things to consider when dispatched include:

• Circumstances generating the call-entanglement, engulfment, electrocution;
• Rescue attempted (additional victims?);
• Atmospheric conditions
• Rescue vs. recovery (conscious or unconscious, downtime, atmospheric conditions, how long for definitive help to arrive)

General Approach

The four common objectives to all technical rescue incidents include:

• Assess: Assess the scene, determine the most appropriate travel routes and staging areas, identify hazards, and conduct a risk analysis;
• Control: Control hazards, isolate, remove any bystanders and deny entry, identify hazards, and establish isolation zones;
• Rescue: Use appropriate methods and equipment to separate people from hazards;
• Evacuate: Remove victims to safety.

Acceptable Risk

According to Policy and Procedure 24-01, Incident Response Policy, Appendix A, "MCFRS seeks to reduce the risks associated with any incident to the lowest achievable level without compromising the mission:

• We will extend calculated risk to save savable lives.
• We will accept limited risk to save savable property.
• We will not risk Firefighter lives for lives or property that cannot be saved.

The following presentation highlights essential tasks and guidelines personnel must consider when responding to confined space calls. Knowledge of initial actions and guidelines may be tested on the exam.