
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.
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