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NIOSH Testimony to DOL on Confined Spaces by R. Neimeier, October 4, 1989.

PB90193152

Publication Date	1989
Page Count	14
Abstract	Testimony concerned the activities of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as they relate to the prevention of fatalities in confined spaces. The NIOSH Fatal Accident Circumstances and Epidemiology (FACE) program has investigated 44 incidents resulting in 70 fatalities in 5 years. FACE, a passive surveillance system, relies on reports from a limited number of reporting states and, therefore, represents only a limited percentage of the total concurrence of confined space deaths in the United States. These fatalities appeared to often involve a failure to post a warning on the confined space, a failure of the victim to recognize the space as a confined space hazard, a failure to monitor and ventilate the atmosphere before entry, and well intentioned but ill conceived rescue attempts. The highest risk for confined space fatalities were those spaces where the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere was not known on recognized. NIOSH recommended that workers be made aware of the dangers involved in entering a confined space through proper training and posting of the space, that confined spaces be classified in at least three classifications to determine appropriate work practices, that purging and ventilation be required, and that those spaces where the potential atmospheric hazard is oxygen deficiency be regulated as a separate class.
Keywords	Accident investigations Industrial accidents Asphyxia Confined environments Accident prevention Hazards Atmosphere contamination control Ventilation Occupational safety and health Fatalities Work environments Testimony
Source Agency	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
NTIS Subject Category	57U - Public Health & Industrial Medicine 41I - Job Environment 94D - Job Environment 94H - Industrial Safety Engineering
Corporate Authors	National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	199012

NIOSH Testimony to DOL on Confined Spaces by R. Neimeier, October 4, 1989.

NIOSH Testimony to DOL on Confined Spaces by R. Neimeier, October 4, 1989.
PB90193152

Publication Date	1989
Page Count	14
Abstract	Testimony concerned the activities of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as they relate to the prevention of fatalities in confined spaces. The NIOSH Fatal Accident Circumstances and Epidemiology (FACE) program has investigated 44 incidents resulting in 70 fatalities in 5 years. FACE, a passive surveillance system, relies on reports from a limited number of reporting states and, therefore, represents only a limited percentage of the total concurrence of confined space deaths in the United States. These fatalities appeared to often involve a failure to post a warning on the confined space, a failure of the victim to recognize the space as a confined space hazard, a failure to monitor and ventilate the atmosphere before entry, and well intentioned but ill conceived rescue attempts. The highest risk for confined space fatalities were those spaces where the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere was not known on recognized. NIOSH recommended that workers be made aware of the dangers involved in entering a confined space through proper training and posting of the space, that confined spaces be classified in at least three classifications to determine appropriate work practices, that purging and ventilation be required, and that those spaces where the potential atmospheric hazard is oxygen deficiency be regulated as a separate class.
Keywords	Accident investigations Industrial accidents Asphyxia Confined environments Accident prevention Hazards Atmosphere contamination control Ventilation Occupational safety and health Fatalities Work environments Testimony
Source Agency	National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
NTIS Subject Category	57U - Public Health & Industrial Medicine 41I - Job Environment 94D - Job Environment 94H - Industrial Safety Engineering
Corporate Authors	National Inst. for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	199012