CONFINED SPACES
Confined Spaces: Learning and Trusting Your Gas Detector
With the proper training, personnel, and comfort with your equipment,
you can mitigate many of the potential risks.
BY BRYAN SZCZUR
INDUSTRIAL SCIENTIFIC CORPORATION
T
he rain fell as I stood at the top of the rappel tower; looking down at the ground, I
prepared for a 50-foot descent. I had been an
Army ROTC cadet for just two weeks, and
this was the first time I had ever done any kind of intense physical training. The rappel master, who called
the shots from the top of the tower, was a seasoned
veteran who had no time for a hesitant cadet like me.
A fellow cadet waited at the bottom, standing on belay
as a safety precaution. The rappel master checked my
gloves, helmet, rope, knots, and carabiner before giving me the go-ahead to proceed down the tower.
“Are you nervous, cadet?” he asked.
“Yes, sergeant, a little,” I promptly and honestly
replied.
He answered, “Don’t be. Trust your training, trust
your buddy, and trust your equipment. Now get off
my tower.”
I took a deep breath and dropped down the rope.
Prior to the actual rappelling, he’d spent several
hours teaching us how to tie a Swiss seat knot, secure
our carabiners, tighten our helmets, and check our
gloves for any holes or tears. After we all were familiar
and comfortable with our equipment, we spent an-
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other hour practicing the appropriate techniques for
descending and braking while on the rope. We also
practiced the proper way to secure the rope from the
bottom when acting as the belay man, in the event
that the soldier on rappel would lose grip and fall.
Being the young, inexperienced kid that I was, all of
these safety precautions seemed unnecessary. While
I didn’t realize it at the time, that sergeant was responsible for the safety of every cadet on that tower.
Looking back on that day and all of the training events
I’ve participated in since then, I’ve learned that safety
must always be the top priority—no matter what trade
or industry you work in.
A regard for safety is especially important for
workers who encounter potentially hazardous scenarios every day. Confined space entry, for example,
requires workers to take an approach similar to Army
cadets: You must trust your training, trust your buddy,
and trust your equipment.
Trust Your Training
The Army prepares soldiers for mission-essential tasks
every day. Once soldiers complete repetitious training,
their duties, responsibilities, and tasks become second
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nature, along with the safety procedures
they follow while undergoing this training.
With enough instruction and rehearsals,
workers can follow the same process when
having to enter a confined space.
One safety issue a worker may encounter when entering a confined space is exposure to hazardous gases. To effectively
monitor these gases, workers must use
gas detectors properly. For this reason,
gas detection manufacturers often provide
training classes to help workers gain an
understanding of the basic functionality
and application of their instruments. These
courses offer an in-depth approach to gas
detection, covering the components of the
gas monitors and the intricacies of their
makeup. If you don’t know where to begin with your gas detector training, take a
course. You will get hands-on training and
perform all of the basic procedures for operation, and the best way to learn is by doing. If you are unable to take a course, some
manufacturers also offer online training
videos that walk you through the proper
operating and maintenance of an instrument. The resources are there to help you
learn your gas detector and ultimately to
keep you safe.
If your manufacturer offers a confined
space-specific class, it likely will begin
by covering what a confined space is. By
definition, a confined space is an area with
limited entry and exit that is large enough
for bodily entry and is not designed for
continuous occupancy. Due to these conditions, confined spaces are hazardous and
pose potential risks. For example, you may
learn that the most common cause of death
in confined spaces is oxygen deficiency,
so right away you would need a monitor
that can detect for low oxygen levels. You
may also learn certain aspects of common toxic gases. For example, the course
may cover how hydrogen sulfide is heavier
than air, meaning it would likely be present
at the bottom of a confined space. It may
also cover how carbon monoxide (another
common toxic gas) is slightly lighter than
air, meaning it could be anywhere within a
confined space.
These are just a few of the many examples you will go over. The class also may
cover the proper way to take samples from
a confined space by using a monitor with a
sampling pump and tubing.
Upon completion of the class, you
will be evaluated on a simulated confined
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space entry. Similar to the several hours
of knot-tying and simulated rappels, the
material and practical exercise will surely
prepare a worker to enter a confined space
safely and confidently. The most important thing to remember is that the training
does not end with the class. It is vital that
you take the information with you and
train your fellow employees.
In the Army, a soldier never goes anywhere without his battle buddy. This decades-old safety technique is simple yet
effective, and it should also be applied in
confined space entry. One worker enters
the space wearing a gas detector while
the other stays at the entrance and continuously monitors the space with his gas
detector. This not only provides a sense of
redundancy to a safe entrance, but also it
ensures that both workers are paying attention to the potential hazardous gases
inside that space. Should something happen to the entrant, the attendant can use
whatever extraction equipment there is
or immediately contact the rescue crew to
save the injured worker. Remember, the
attendant should never enter the space
without proper protection in an attempt
to save the entrant if it appears that the entrant has passed out or lost consciousness.
The important takeaway is that both
attendant and entrant should be properly
trained in each other’s responsibilities. This
not only creates a sense of safety between the
two, it can also prevent an injury or death.
The entrant should know the attendant has
his back if anything were to happen, just like
the solider and his battle buddy.
you don’t know how to use your gas detector, how can you trust it?
When monitoring for harmful gases in
a confined space, you must know the capabilities and functionality of your gas monitor. The four common steps to operating
a gas detector are to turn it on and check
the battery status, zero the sensors, bump
test, and clear the peaks. It is one thing to
tell workers to follow these steps, but it is
even more important to ensure that they
know how. The resources are there to help
workers learn their instruments, whether it
be a classroom session, a product manual,
an online video, or even a phone call to a
company representative.
It is also vital that workers understand
their monitors’ sensor configurations and
why this would be relevant to the space
they will enter. For example, the most common gases could be carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, or a combustible gas such
as methane or pentane. If any of these is
present, it would lead to a displacement of
oxygen. For this reason, many companies
choose to monitor their spaces with a standard four-gas monitor containing these
types of sensors.
Other volatile organic gases, such as
acetylene or toluene, also may be present
in a tank. In these instances, a standard
four-gas monitor would not suffice for an
accurate reading. Because of this, manufacturers offer gas monitors with a photo ionization detector, also known as a PID.
If workers are aware of the potential
for gases to exist in a confined space, they
should understand how to use their monitor properly to keep them safe. Only then
can they trust their gas detector.
Trust Your Equipment
Conclusion
Trust Your Buddy
A soldier in training needs to know not
only what equipment he has, but also how
to use it to his advantage. For example, two
soldiers traveling in a vehicle will have a
GPS system, communication devices, and
a map so that they and everyone else can
track where they are at all times. However,
they can encounter a whole slew of issues
if they don’t know how to use their GPS,
communicate through the radio, or read a
map. These pieces are vital to training and
to mission success, and soldiers heavily rely
on them to accomplish their tasks.
Similarly, a gas detector is virtually useless if a worker entering a confined space
does not know how to properly use it. If
The bottom line for a soldier is that if he
or she skips a safety precaution, his or her
life and the lives of others could be at stake.
This is no different for workers following
the proper safety precautions before, during, and after a confined space entry. With
the proper training, personnel, and comfort with your equipment, you can mitigate
many of the potential risks. So whether you
are a young cadet on a rappel tower or a
worker going in for a day’s work, remember that safety must always come first.
Bryan Szczur is an Associate Gas Detection
Specialist at Industrial Scientific Corporation.
He can be reached at bszczur@indsci.com.
AUGUST 2015 |
Occupational Health & Safety
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