Confined Space Safety

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration is investigating an accident in a manhole at a Superior, Wisconsin landfill that claimed four lives. The incident started when one worker in the hole was overcome by toxic fumes. One by one, the other three victims went to help their colleagues and were themselves overcome. All four were dead of hydrogen sulfide poisoning by the time rescue workers arrived at the scene.


The men were reportedly trying to fix a sewer in a hole three feet in diameter and more than 25 feet deep at the privately owned landfill. None of the men were wearing respirators or safety masks, and emergency responders found no evidence of gas detection or other safety equipment at the accident scene.



Hazards of hydrogen sulfide

Hydrogen sulfide is a poisonous, flammable, colorless gas that gives off a strong odor of rotten eggs. At high concentrations, it will deaden the sense of smell, consequently odor may not provide adequate warning of hazardous concentrations. Even brief exposure to high concentrations can cause difficulty breathing and loss of consciousness.



The landfill was owned by Kimmes Construction of Superior, a family business that included two of the victims. The other two men were contractors working at the landfill.



The four men were working with two others, who called 911 after the men failed to emerge from the hole. It took about 25 minutes from the time of the call for firefighters to reach the first victim. The last body was removed from the pit about three hours from the time of the initial call. The bodies were found in about four feet of water at the bottom of the hole.



Firefighter response

Firefighters with OSHA-mandated safety equipment including breathing apparatus, masks and radio communication gear led the response. An oversized tripod was positioned over the manhole and firefighters were lowered into the pit by way of a rope and pulley system. Private employees working in confined spaces and rescuers are required to use the same type of equipment and to take the same pre-entry precautions as firefighters. One blogger on the Firehouse.com Forum, a firefighter with the Superior Fire Department who responded to the accident, wrote this: “This is a great example as to why we have to look before we leap. We were told one person in the well, (on dispatch) after we arrived it was 4. It was training and experance that told us to slow down, hydrogen sulfide 200+ppm, Low O2, Lel above limits and lack of personal to safely consider rescue. Considering was not a thought, CFR1910.120 spells it out. since the investigation is still going on all I will say here is, Use your Training, brain and gut to determine your course of action, not your heart.”



Jim Rigstad, a battalion commander for the Superior Fire Department, said that upon arriving on the scene it quickly became evident that survival of the victims was not likely, and that responders were on a recovery mission rather than a rescue mission. A gas meter lowered into the manhole showed hydrogen sulfide levels of 200 parts per million, twice what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has deemed to be Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health (IDLH) concentrations. Experts said that the level of fumes inside the pit was so high that unprotected workers would have immediately been rendered unconscious.



Dangers of Confined Spaces

Almost every kind of industry has some type of confined spaces. Storage tanks, tunnels, pipelines, storm drains, silos and ships’ holds are all examples of confined spaces. More than 1.5 million workers enter these spaces each year for the purposes of maintenance, repairs, installations, inspections, and meter reading.



A confined space is an enclosed area with the following characteristics:



It is configured and has adequate size so that a person can enter and perform work;

It has limited and restricted means of access and egress;

The primary use of the space is for something other than continuous human occupancy.

There are a number of hazards associated with confined spaces. A significant threat to life in confined spaces are atmospheric hazards which may be flammable or explosive, toxic, oxygen deficient, oxygen enriched or corrosive. Other hazards associated with confined spaces include possible cave ins, heat injury due to elevated temperatures, electrical hazards, the hazards associated with mechanical equipment, and poor visibility, just to name a few.

Relevant OSHA standards

OSHA’s Permit-Required Confined Space Standard (29 CFR 1910.146) mandates a comprehensive approach for the control of permit space hazards and includes provisions for entry permits, training, hazard recognition, isolation procedures, atmospheric testing, mechanical ventilation, and personal protective equipment.



Another OSHA standard, 29 CFR 1910.120, commonly called the Hazwoper standard, defines the level of training workers must have before being allowed to enter a hazardous environment either for work or for rescue. OSHA’s Respiratory Standard, 29 CFR 1910.134, requires certain respiratory protection and other safety precautions for workers before they may enter a hazardous atmosphere, and also outlines a protective practice known as “2 in/2 out”, requiring at least two employees to enter an IDLH atmosphere and to remain in visual or voice contact with one another at all times, while at least two employees be located outside the hazard area but properly equipped and trained to enter the space if rescue becomes necessary.



It is a sad fact that when multiple deaths occur at confined space incidents, the majority of the victims in each event die while trying to rescue the original entrant. In fact, would be rescuers account for more than half of the confined space fatalities

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