Industrial Rescue: Benefits of a Good Imagination
October 7, 2019
Planning for emergencies requires a good imagination.
October 7, 2019
Planning for emergencies requires a good imagination.
Categorized under: Rescue Blog
Tagged as: confined space rescue, rescue, rescue team, rescue training, Rope Rescue, technical rescue, tower rescue
Jun 21, 2016
One of the challenges in administering a confined space safety program is deciding which spaces to include in your inventory. The simple answer is to just include those spaces that meet the definition of a permit space*, but is this a confined space safety best practice? My sense is that it may not be. In fact, I believe that when you’re deciding which spaces to place under the confined space program, you should consider putting aside OSHA’s legal definition of a permit space and instead use a broader measuring stick.
Categorized under: Safety Blog
Tagged as: Confined Space, confined space entry, confined space regulations, confined space rescue
May 4, 2016
Given a topic as potentially complex as confined spaces, we can often enhance our understanding of the safety requirements by looking at other, similar standards. The shipyard employment standard (29 CFR 1915 Subpart B) offers us one such opportunity.
Categorized under: Safety Blog
Tagged as: Confined Space, confined space entry, confined space permits, confined space regulations, confined space rescue, shipyards
Aug 4, 2015
When you are asked the question: Is it worth having a rescue team? Common sense dictates that most employees should be able to respond appropriately to an incipient fire. Alarms and extinguishers have saved countless billions in damages and few would argue against spending money to ensure a safe and effective response in the few moments after a fire has started. Like structural fires, confined space emergencies are the result of a chain of events and if this chain can be broken early, lives can be saved.
Categorized under: Rescue Blog
Tagged as: Confined Space, confined space rescue, OSHA compliance, rescue, rescue team, Rope Rescue
Feb 16, 2015
After years of comments, proposals, discussions, edits, issuances, retractions, amendments, and related activities, OROSHA has issued its Confined Space Rule: OAR 437-002-0146. The permit space rules became effective for general industry on January 1, 2015 and will become effective for construction on March 1, 2015. Will your location be in compliance with Oregon’s new rules? What does it mean to Oregon employers? If you were in compliance with the Federal rules (1910.146) will you be in compliance with this one?
Categorized under: Safety Blog
Tagged as: Confined Space, confined space permits, confined space regulations, confined space rescue, OSHA standards
Jan 27, 2015
We are often asked how much training or equipment a confined space team really needs, and while we’d like to be able to respond with a simple answer, the answer is really not simple. The problem may be the use of the term ‘rescue team’ and what this term connotes; specifically a crack squad of former fire fighters who never encountered a hole they didn’t want to jump into or a tower they wouldn’t climb. But if we drill into the intent of the regulations we can see that OSHA does not require everyone who enters a confined space to be backed up by a rescue team, they simply require you to have a means of rescue. So how much rescue capability is enough at your location?
Categorized under: Rescue Blog
Tagged as: Confined Space, confined space entry, confined space regulations, confined space rescue
Jan 19, 2015
When you are hanging in a harness the leg straps cut off this return flow. Blood pools in the legs where the tissues scrub out all the oxygen and load it up with metabolic waste products. With this reduction of blood circulating in the body, the heart compensates by speeding up the heart rate to maintain blood flow to the brain. How long does this process take? It depends on many factors.
Categorized under: Rescue Blog, Safety Blog
Tagged as: confined space rescue, Fall Protection, rescue, technical rescue
Oct 7, 2014
Developing a rescue team is simple: recruit team members, purchase equipment, and hire someone to provide training. Easy enough. The real challenge is maintaining that capability over time. People leave the team, equipment ‘disappears’ and skills degrade. Having been involved in the development and maintenance of hundreds of rescue teams, we have learned that successful, long-lasting teams are built on a firm foundation. And firm foundations begin by asking and answering these five questions.
Categorized under: Rescue Blog
Tagged as: confined space rescue, rescue team, Rope Rescue, technical rescue
Jul 7, 2014
Can you define rescue tripod “footprint” if a student or fellow team member asked you? The footprint of a rescue tripod is exactly what it implies. Begin with something familiar: your footprint.
Categorized under: Rescue Blog
Tagged as: confined space rescue, Rope Rescue, technical rescue
Jan 30, 2014
Any profession that can impact life and safety and that requires interactions with other life safety professionals (i.e., nurses, paramedics, EMTs, and physicians) requires skills, knowledge, and a commitment to that trade. This is also true of rescue technicians. These abilities don’t accrue overnight; they require years of dedicated study and participation rescue drills and skills exercises.
Categorized under: Rescue Blog
Tagged as: confined space rescue, Rope Rescue, tower rescue