Page 5 - Confined Space Entry - CCPS Safe Work Practice

Need / Call to Action

Incidents continue to happen

The accident took place on a container ship while in port.
After giving instructions to the engine room department,
the 2nd Engineer along with the engine room fitter went
into the ship’s tunnel to overhaul a leaky storm valve.
The 2nd Engineer and the fitter started their work in the
confined space of the tunnel. They isolated the line and
slackened the valve. However, they apparently forgot that
the line could have trapped poisonous gases inside it. As
soon as the valve was removed, the toxic gas escaped
into the confined space tunnel. The 2nd Engineer and
fitter collapsed instantly. This was not all. After some time,
the 4th Engineer went into the tunnel looking for the 2nd
Engineer. Unaware of the situation, the 4th Engineer also
collapsed because of the poisonous gases as soon as
he entered the confined space. After few hours, the 3rd
Engineer, on not finding 2nd and 4th Engineers, informed
the Chief Engineer about the situation. A team entered the
tunnel after taking proper precautions to rescue people
from confined space along with breathing apparatus and
discovered that 2nd Engineer, 4th Engineer and fitter had
died due to suffocation by poisonous gases in the confined
space.
– Marine Insight, April 2017
https://www.marineinsight.com/case-studies/accidents-
at-sea-death-in-the-confined-space/

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), there are about 2.1 million confined
space entries annually in the US. Approximately 60 percent of confined-space fatalities are rescuers, and the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported that when multiple deaths occur during a rescue, the
majority of the victims are "would-be" rescuers. Additional findings from the NIOSH investigations of confined space
fatalities are that:
g 95% of the entries were AUTHORIZED by supervision
• 85% of the time a SUPERVISOR was present
• 29% of the fatal injuries were suffered by SUPERVISORS

g 31% of the incidents had WRITTEN Confined Space Entry PROCEDURES
• 0% used the WRITTEN PROCEDURES
• 0% had a RESCUE PLAN
• 0% of the spaces were TESTED prior to entry
• 0% of the spaces were VENTILATED

g 15% of the entrants had Confined Space TRAINING

g 60% of "WOULD-BE" RESCUERS died

2022 CONFINED SPACE ENTRY 5