Confined Space Emergencies
According to the Department of Labor, last year alone, close to 6000 fatalities occurred at the workplace. It is believed by many experts that approximately 1/10, or 600 of those were related to or directly involved a confined space. NIOSH tells us that 60% of those fatalities were the would be rescuers! Even after the substantial OSHA laws that were enacted in the 1980s confined space deaths still occur at an alarming pace.
Too many times we respond to a call without complete knowledge of what it is we are about to deal with. The call may come in as EMS in nature, a fall injury, a unconscious person, an electrocution, when we get there we tend to default to those actions we do best, CPR, start lines, take vitals...we feel compelled to take action.
It is essential, that we recognize a confined space environment when we are not expecting one. WE MUST TAKE THE BLINDERS OFF AN LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE!
Confined spaces come in many forms, they can be found in petroleum processing, food industry, utility vaults, underground communication, electrical tunnels, various liquid storage facilities, and in many other forms of industry, just to name a few.
A confined space is defined as an area that is large enough to enter and perform work, has restricted means of access and egress, but is not designed for continuous occupancy.
A permit-required confined space is defined as a confined space that has one or more of the following:
Fatalities and injuries are common occurrences among workers in confined spaces. Workers are exposed to multiple hazards which may cause injury, illness, or death. Toxic, oxygen-deficient, and explosive atmospheres are responsible for most reported fatalities and injuries in confined spaces. Many injuries and fatalities resulting from energy sources, such as steam, electricity, and mechanical equipment go unreported as confined space accidents.
Two Most Common Pitfalls
Rarely are they reported as a confined space emergency. As we said earlier, 911 callers usually don’t tell the Alarm Room that the emergency they are reporting is in a confined space. Who knows the reason why, maybe they don’t see past their co-worker lying on the floor of a storage tank, or a trench, or maybe, they feel if they don’t report it as a confined space incident they won’t get in trouble. Whatever the case, we must recognize the presence of a confined space.
They look safe. Most confined spaces people get injured in or die in simply look safe. That’s probably the reason the victim went inside the space in the first place, and the same reason the would-be rescuer entered to save his buddy! If the confined space was filled with boiling oil, or rattlesnakes no one would go in.
The victim is down for a reason, don’t become another victim by making an ill thought out rescue, even for a fellow firefighter. If it got him/her, it will get you. Do not trust your senses, what you don’t see may kill you.
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