Recent Projects

Rescue Training at the Titan Missile Museum
D2000 is again offering an intensive four-day Industrial Rescue Team Leader program in a missile museum. "It's a great place to train," according to Greg Arbizo, Lead Rescue Instructor. "There are a wide range of scenarios we can set up in the tunnels, silos and vaults."

The focus of the program will be to provide the students with the skills and resources needed to provide initial and refresher training to their rescue teams.

(Industrial rescue includes combines confined space, fall protection and rescue from other elevated areas.)

The training is scheduled to be held February 3 - 6 at the Titan Missile Museum, which is about 20 miles south of Tucson, Arizona.

Students will receive a complete set of training materials (Rescue Leader’s Guide and PowerPoint, and Rescue Student Workbook).

Cost will be $995 per student.

Wind Turbine Safety and Rescue

As our country works to diversify its energy sources, we're seeing a number of wind energy projects take shape locally. Up and down the Columbia River Gorge a growing number of elegant, white turbines spin gracefully while generating needed power.

Over the last few years we've been asked to provide safety and rescue training to a variety of turbine builders, operators and repair persons.

"I think we're well suited to this," explains Jim Johnson, CEO of D2000 safety. "With our background in confined space, fall protection and rescue we can tailor a curriculum that meets the exact needs of these workers."

One recent project included training employees of the Silvey Corporation to perform rescues for possible stricken workers. Silvey's Randy Smith explains, "Our client provided us with some rescue equipment but this packaged system didn't provide us with the flexibility needed to perform rescues that we felt would be needed." D2000 trained Silvey's employees on simplified rope rescue techniques that addressed this perceived weakness.

"The D2000 instructors did a great job," Mr. Smith explained, "and we're looking forward to having them back."

Other projects have included delivery of a special, one-day fall protection and confined space program for workers who must enter and nose cone and blades to perform fiberglass repairs.

"It's sort of a special set of skills these people need," Jim Johnson explained. "They only need to be trained to the specific climbing and confined space procedures that they're expected to follow, so we can get the job done in a single day."

D2000 and MSHA

In the wake of recent mine accidents, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has substantially increased their enforcement efforts. Historically, MSHA regulations have always been much less specific that OSHA standards so the MSHA compliance officers often refer to the OSHA standards when deciding upon enforcement actions.

Over the last year D2000 has worked with some of the country's largest mines, including Newmont, FMI, and Phelps Dodge to train their safety personnel in the areas of confined space and fall protection.

"Given the lack of specificity in the MSHA standards," explained D2000's Jim Johnson, "it can be very tough for these companies to comply. Our training for mines, therefore, focuses on other standards including OSHA and ANSI."

By understanding these stricter requirements and reflecting them in the companies' safety policies, the mining industry can advance their goals of protecting workers.

"They might not follow every word of the OSHA regulations," Mr. Johnson said, "so these companies adapt them as needed." And although there are variances between the various rules, "the laws of physics don't change from location to location. Those physical laws ultimately determine whether or not someone gets hurt."

D2000 Trains in Trinidad
Located just north of Venezuela, Trinidad/Tobago is undergoing a major cultural shift in safety.

Having recently passed an Occupational Health and Safety Act, the country is learning to adapt to new safety requirements modeled largely on the U.S. OSHA standards. One of the companies actively involved in this effort is HHSL Safety Systems, who provides, among other services, helicopter water evacuation training for offshore oil and gas workers.

"With the change in the safety rules, HHSL wanted to broaden their offerings to include confined space entry, excavation safety and fall protection," Jim Johnson, CEO of D2000 said. "So I went down there and trained their instructors to deliver our programs. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work too for everyone involved."

For six straight days the HHSL staff and Mr. Johnson underwent a rigorous training schedule that included extensive hands-on training.

"HHSL really made a comittment to the success of their program," Mr. Johnson said. "They built a confined space prop and fall protection prop that will work well to build the skills their students need."

Morton Salt Confined Space Training
Morton Salt, an active participant on OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) found out following a recent audit that they needed a bit of a tune-up in the area of confined space safety.

The management at Morton is committed to mainating the highest rating (Star) in the VPP, and Harvey Mcgill, our lead safety instructor, was glad to help them achieve it.

In the Voluntary Protection Program management, labor, and OSHA establish cooperative relationships to help the worksite maintain its comprehensive safety and health management system. Approval into VPP is OSHA’s official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary occupational safety and health. In practice, VPP sets performance-based criteria for a managed safety and health system, invites sites to apply, and then assesses applicants against these criteria. OSHA’s verification includes an application review and a rigorous onsite evaluation by a team of OSHA safety and health experts.

More information about VPP can be found on the OSHA web site.

Tower Rescue Training In Indiana
The class began with bookwork and review of basic skills, like the foot wrap seen in the picture above. Then it was off to train on actual telecommunications towers. Over the course of four intense training days, D2000's rescue instructors, Greg Arbizo and Lary Morton, delivered our Tower Rescue Operations course to four workers with Perry-Spencer Telephone in St. Meinard, Indiana,

"It was a great group and we covered a lot of material in a short period of time," Greg Arbizo explained. "The students had limited climbing expereince but since it was a small class, and we tailored the curriculum to their exact needs, they got a lot of learning in and are off to a great start."

After several hours in the classroom, the next step was taking the students out to a garage bay where they could practice basic climbing techniques. Then it was off to live exercises on the tower.

"Rescue is something that you never really master, you just have to keep learning and practicing new skills," Lary explained. "I think these guys have a good foundation on which to build those skills."

Standby Rescue in Washington
Located to the Northwest of Mt. St. Helens in Washington, the Cowlitz Falls dam is a 70 megawatt hydroelectric project operated by Lewis County PUD. Every couple of years the crews need to shut down and inspect the turbines, which requires the construction of a temporary work platform directly beneath the turbine blade. During the last shutdown, in August, D2000 provided standby rescue and training.

"The problem is that you have to provide fall protection while the workers are beneath the turbine placing the beams and planks to create the platform," according to Leader Rescue Instructor, Greg Arbizo. "We managed to create several secure anchors by rigging cargo slings around the stay vanes in the scroll case above the turbine. Once this was done, we could then feed ropes below the turbine for the workers to clip into."

This method proved to be much easier and more effective than previous fall protection methodswhich tended to subject the workers to a possible swing fall.

"We also had a chance to demonstrate a lowering system which made accessing and inspecting the downdraft tube much easier," said Jim Johnson, who assisted Greg. "Previously they had to use a ladder which was very hard to position, and then there was no means of rescue. Using a simple lowering and raising system they can access this part of the dam remaining connected to a retrieval line."

The D2000 instructors also had a chance to work with the dam's crew to conduct a practice rescue, which involved packaging and raising a dummy from an escarpment at the foot of the dam.

Busy Spring for D2000
Over the last few months D2000 instructors have been training all over the west coast. Some recent projects include:

Confined Space Training for Certified Coatings: A contractor for a number of refineries, Certified Coatings (Concord CA) brought their workers into the office on a Saturday last March for an eight-hour confined space safety class taught by Jim Johnson.

Confined Space Train the Trainer for Swanson Group: Duane Bralley travelled to Roseburg Oregon in April and delivered a one-day accelerated course to Swanson Group on confined space safety.

Asbestos and Confined Space Refresher for City of Juneau: Harvey McGill taught a two-day asbestos refresher and a one-day confined space refresher for wastewater workers in May.

Confined Space Safety for Sabroso and Masterbrand Cabinets: Duane Bralley travelled down I-5 and spent a two days training in Meford and Grants Pass, Oregon. He also performed a permit space assessment for Masterbrand Cabinets.

Excavation Safety for Competent Persons: Over twenty people attended a three-day class at the state-of-the-art HAMMER Training Facility in Richland, Washington. The class took place in early May. Most of the students are involved with construction projects at the nearby Hanford Nuclear facility.

Confined Space Rescue: Several classes were held this spring including a three-day class for Armtec Defense in Coachella, California and another three-day class for Kraft Foods in Tulare. Additional classes are scheduled in Massachusetts and Kentucky.

Excavation Safety for Compliance Officers: WISHA contracted with D2000 to provide excavation safety training to 14 compliance officers in Kennewick, Washington. The three-day class took place in June and the training was provided by Harvey McGill.

Confined Space Train the Trainer in Oxnard: The City of Oxnard co-sponsored a two-day train the trainer class that was attended by local public works safety professionals from surrounding communities. The class was taught by Jim Johnson and took place in early June.

Confined Space Train the Trainer for the USACE: The Army Corps of Engineers arranged to have eleven staff members trained in confined space safety at the Lake Sonoma Dam in the heart of the Napa Valley. The training concluded in mid-June.

That's a sample of some of the projects we've been involved with. It has been a very busy spring!

Scaffold Training for WISHA Compliance Officers
Harvey McGill, D2000's expert on scaffolding and construction safety, spent six days in September training Washington OSHA inspectors. Two classes with about twenty-five inspectors in each class spent three days studying the regulations, technical manuals and working with several types of scaffolds. Scaffold safety is a major issue on most construction sites and given the various types of scaffolds and the ways in which they can be assembled, the course needed to cover a great deal of ground.

"We focused on supported and suspended scaffolds safety requirements, and also spent some time discussing mobile elevated work platforms," Harvey said. "The class went well and the course evaluations and post-tests indicated that the students learned a great deal."

Course materials included technical brochures provided by Safway Scaffolds as well as safety guidelines published by the Scaffold, Shoring and Forming Institute and used with permission. The students also had extensive hands-on experience with ladder jacks, mobile platforms and various types of supported scaffolds.

The classes were held at the HAMMER Training facility in Richland, Washington. This regional training facility has a national reputation for providing excellent facilities and props for advanced safety training.

Rescue Training in Kenai, Alaska
In August, D2000 rescue instructors conducted six days of confined space and industrial rescue training in Kenai Alaska at the Agrium company's nitrogen processing facility.

The Kenai plant is located on the east side of the Cook Inlet on the Kenai Peninsula and produces anhydrous ammonia and urea. Product from this facility is shipped to many parts of the world including Australia, Chile, China, Korea, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand and South Vietnam.

Instructors Greg Arbizo and Lary Morton conducted two, three-day classes with eleven students in each class. "There was a lot to cover," Greg said. "But the students were real motivated to learn the needed skills and get in as much practice as possible. We ended up staying for several extra hours each day just to make sure that we had achieved all our traiing goals."

According to Agrium's Rick Warren, "Greg and Lary did an excellent job. Very patient with the students and we got a lot more than we expected. I'm looking forward to conducting drills in the future so our teams can practice what they've learned."

"Alaska's a great place to train," Lary Morton said, "we always have fun up there and it's more than just the scenery. The students are great. They have a lot of self-reliance and no matter how challenging the task they just seem to get right into it."

Cowlitz Falls Confined Space Assessment
On July 28, Jim Johnson, CEO of D2000, visited the Cowlitz Falls hydroelectric project to perform an assessment of the plant's confined spaces and confined space program.

"The whole idea of confined spaces in a hydro plant is interesting," Jim explained, "because you've got spaces attached to other spaces, all of which are contained in a building which is climate-controlled. It becomes pretty evident that once you start analyzing, the permit space regulations aren't really a good fit for hydro plants."

One of the main challenges is that you have work spaces that are difficult to access but may not pose any serious hazards, aside from those introduced by work activities. In these situations it can be difficult to determine whether the space is a non-permit space, enclosed space (such as a vault), reclassified space, or a permit-required confined space. "When you're confronted with these questions, it's important to focus on controlling the hazards," Jim said, "and spend less time worrying about labeling spaces. Hazards hurt people, so focus on those first. Once you've done that, the identity of the spaces becomes easier to determine."

D2000's final report determined that Lewis County PUD, which operates the facility, has done a good job at identifying the spaces and controlling the hazards.

The primary need identified is to continue to develop their rescue capabilities. "They have a good handle on non-entry rescue," Jim explained, "so our next task will be to help them develop entry rescue capabilities." Like many facilities, there is only a limited number of staff at the plant, so developing a rescue team will be a challenge, particularly if everyone at the plant is serving as a member of the entry team. "There are some people we draw on from management and other nearby hydro facilities," the plant supervisor, Jim Byrd, explained. "So we'll get it handled."

D2000 is scheduled to provide standby rescue services and training over the next few months.

D2000 Provides Excavation Safety Training for Compliance Officers
At the request of WISHA (Washington State OSHA) D2000 trained compliance officers in the areas of excavation safety. The coordinator of WISHA training explained that it was important to conduct this class in the summer, which is during the height of the construction season. According to one of the compliance officers, 'it was the best class I've taken in the last three years!"

"The class was basically the same as our competent person class," D2000's Lead Instructor, Harvey McGill, explained. "The class ran about three days with about half of that spent doing hands-on activities."

We focussed on several areas," Harvey explained. "Primarily the proper placement of shields and shoring, along with the engineering data that is used to calculate the loads which the walls of the excavation impose on the protective systems." Other topics included dewatering strategies, soil testing, and controlling traffic patterns that can create vibration in the soil.

In September D2000 will be training about forty-five compliance officers in the area of scaffold safety at the HAMMER training facility in Richland, Washington.

Rescue Training in Alaska
In May, D2000 Rescue Instructors Greg Arbizo and Lary Morton completed three days of confined space entry and rescue training for the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska. The location for the training was at the city's Mendenhall Wastewater Treatment Plant.

"We started out with the basics," Lary said, "with entrant/attendant training. The we moved into entry supervisor. By the end of the three days we were focusing on some fairly advanced techniques for getting patients out of some tight spots.

"The students were great," Greg Arbizo added. "They really got involved and learned a great deal."

Rescue scenarios were practiced in pump vaults and clarifiers, as well as within some rescue props to simulate working in sewer pipelines.

D2000 instructors have taught confined space entry in this facility in years past, as well as other topics including excavation safety.