L6: Confined Spaces Beyond the Norm
Wed, 6/3: 9:15 AM - 10:15 AM CDT
Education Sessions
Education Sessions
Ernest N. Morial New Orleans Convention Center
Room: 395
CM Credit Hours: 1
Description
Confined spaces are straightforward - usually. But they can kill. In just two incidents last August, nine people lost their lives. Six died in a dairy farm's manure pit. Three, working for wastewater treatment companies, died in a lift station.
This session will use one egregious case of ignoring confined space requirements as a springboard to discussing ways we can use technology to remove the risk of entering dangerous confined spaces. The case, presented by one of the expert witnesses involved in it, resulted in the company owner's criminal conviction and sentence of 17 years in prison, at that time the longest prison sentence ever handed down for a federal environmental crime. It didn't kill anyone, but left one person seriously brain-damaged.
If that same confined space entry was done today, could it have been prevented with the use of technology? Probably not, because this owner was unlikely to have chosen any safer methods. But new technologies such as drones and LiDAR may be able to remove the need to enter hazardous spaces. They may facilitate determining the safety of a space before employees enter. Or they may make it easier to rescue people in situations where every second counts.
Telling people to enter confined spaces without taking any protective measures should be a thing of the past. Using drones and other innovations to reduce the need to enter should be a thing of the future.
This session will use one egregious case of ignoring confined space requirements as a springboard to discussing ways we can use technology to remove the risk of entering dangerous confined spaces. The case, presented by one of the expert witnesses involved in it, resulted in the company owner's criminal conviction and sentence of 17 years in prison, at that time the longest prison sentence ever handed down for a federal environmental crime. It didn't kill anyone, but left one person seriously brain-damaged.
If that same confined space entry was done today, could it have been prevented with the use of technology? Probably not, because this owner was unlikely to have chosen any safer methods. But new technologies such as drones and LiDAR may be able to remove the need to enter hazardous spaces. They may facilitate determining the safety of a space before employees enter. Or they may make it easier to rescue people in situations where every second counts.
Telling people to enter confined spaces without taking any protective measures should be a thing of the past. Using drones and other innovations to reduce the need to enter should be a thing of the future.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion, the participant will be able to:
• Describe an application of technology, such as drones, to make entering a confined space safer.
• Summarize several measures that can be taken to remove the need to enter permit-required or hazardous confined spaces.
• Explain the role of owners/management in facilitating safe confined space entry.
• Identify hazards from a tank cleaning operation.
• Describe an application of technology, such as drones, to make entering a confined space safer.
• Summarize several measures that can be taken to remove the need to enter permit-required or hazardous confined spaces.
• Explain the role of owners/management in facilitating safe confined space entry.
• Identify hazards from a tank cleaning operation.
Content Level
Intermediate
Core Competencies
Engineering Controls and Ventilation
Work Environments, Occupations, and Industrial Processes
Keywords
Emergency preparedness and response
Exposure Assessment
Gas and vapor detection
Regulatory compliance
Risk assessment and management
Session Availability
In-person
OnDemand
Targeted Audience
Practitioner
Transfer of Knowledge
Lecture Only