Tragedy Marks On-site Discovery of Confined Space Hazards

It was late December. The temperature was below zero. A small construction crew was pouring a cement floor of about 50,000 square feet inside a building that was enclosed in plastic, to keep wind and snow out and the heat in. The heat came from propane-fired heaters and kerosene-type jet heaters with blowers.

Concrete trucks drove into the work area, with 10 to 12 trucks idling inside the building, as they waited to pour their concrete. As one truck was emptied, another truck arrived with more concrete, a common practice in a concrete floor project of this size.

About 10:00 a.m., one of the floor bays was ready for finishing the concrete. To maintain temperature, the crew had encompassed the bay with plastic to wall off the area from the rest of the building. What they actually did was create a confined space.

One worker entered the self-made confined space and started to float the concrete. But, when his co-workers returned, they entered the “plastic room” and found their friend lying face down in the concrete. Although rushed to the hospital, he now suffers from loss of involuntary motor functions (such as breathing), attributed to an increased level of CO and an oxygen deficiency.

The victim’s co-workers told this sad story to MSA’s Rick Hartman (product line manager, calibration instruments), as they asked him about our new Orion™ Monitor at the World of Concrete trade show.

“What a tragedy! I could see tears in their eyes. Like so many others, they had followed this practice before, without incident—thinking gas detection equipment unnecessary, too expensive, and too complicated to calibrate. But now, after it was too late, they knew they had to have it.

“They helped me put the Orion Monitor through its paces, admiring its features, easy-to-replace sensors, and one-button calibration. They decided the Orion unit would serve them well.

And, as they were leaving, I heard one worker say, ‘For the money we spent on the paramedics’ services, we could have had three of these instruments!’ ”

Needless to say, these workers will never again work in a confined space without gas monitors.