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Have you recently checked on your permit-required confined space compliance? Risks can go well beyond hefty Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fines. Potential outcomes of confined space entry can be serious, even fatal, and include asphyxiation, engulfed or trapped workers, explosions or fires, and electrical and struck-by hazards. There are confined spaces in workplaces […]
Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine managing permit-required confined spaces. Are there spaces in your facility or at your worksites where you need to limit access? Are there spaces that contain a hazardous or potentially hazardous atmosphere, […]
OSHA cited a Texas employer for two willful and three serious violations after a worker fatality at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The agency is seeking $301,188 in penalties.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) cited two employers for serious accident-related safety and health violations after workers were poisoned by carbon monoxide while working in a confined space at San Francisco International Airport.
Q: Is confined space awareness training required for employees in general industry who do not enter permit-required confined spaces?
What makes a confined space dangerous? The textbook answer is that it contains some hazard and that it’s difficult to escape. But, as one Garden Grove employer recently learned, a lack of knowledge is also a dangerous—and potentially costly—thing.
Recently, a subscriber asked the following question: Is there an OSHA requirement that if lighting and power requirements cannot be met by the use of battery lights, reduced voltage lighting at a maximum of 12 volts must be used?
One of the most misunderstood portions of the OSHA confined space standard for general industry is the rescue requirement. Many employers don’t manage their confined space entry risks because they fail to adequately assess the hazards and recognize the need for rescue services.
What constitutes a confined space, and what do your employees need to know to stay protected when working in them? Get the facts here.