OT -- story that is sad in very many ways

I'm certain I will be flamed for this, but stupidity does have its rewards. Steve

Very common to have serial deaths in such confined-space incidents.

Here's another recent case:

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

First, note the date. Lots have happened since then, and lots of new laws and changes in the existing laws.

It's called confined space entry. When I was in the safety field, it was one of the MOST complicated processes one could get involved in, as far as a Job Safety Analysis Report, and in process monitoring. And for good reason. The rescuers were in as much jeopardy as the victim, many times much more, because the victim was dead, and people died valiantly trying to rescue a person they did not know was dead. There are hundreds of these stories, many with the exact same plot.

If you want to get into some LONG tedious reading of minutiae, google up OSHA regs for confined space entry. And yet, when you diagram it out, if you follow directions, you CYA pretty good, and things don't get as bad as fast. In the ideal world, there are all sorts of harnesses, gas sniffers, alarms, hoisting devices, and PPE (personal protective equipment) that can cover just about any situation. Then you hit the reality wall of the "Git-R-Done" boss and company, and you just can't spend eight hours total for a short time within the confined space. And that's when things go bad, and the employer (and insurer) say, "Those dumb employees. They were trained NOT to do that.) And, if, you're the careful conscientious safe worker who takes longer to do a job than someone who will cut corners and take chances, funny, but you seem to work less and get RIFfed more often. (Cause of termination: Reduction In Force)

Some of the deaths re: confined spaces ......... have been some of the most preventable, and in retrospect, a comedy of errors with sad results.

The main culprits are methane and hydrogen sulfide. One good lung full of hydrogen sulfide, and you're d-e-a-d. Methane is a little slower. A hydrogen sulfide blowout on the Randolph Yost, Reading and Bates Drilling Co. United Arab Emirates in 1980 killed 27 men. They fell where they stood. I was offered that contract, but declined because I was just tired from ten years of oilfield work.

Steve

Yes, the saddest ones is about relatives trying to save one another. (how can you not enter a manure pit where, say, your son is dying etc)

Sadly, this is 100% true.

Very lucky. I once missed a train. It so happened that a bridge decided to fall on that very train that I missed.

A good friend of mine has a son who works as an architect in Boston. His son was scheduled to give a project presentation in Los Angeles on a Tuesday, and had already bought his ticket. The presentation was cancelled on Monday, and so he stayed in Boston.

He had a ticket on American Airlines Flight 11, on Tuesday, September 11,

Very scary Doug, it is easy to become superstitious when things like this happen. I am a little surprised that the presentation was scheduled for the same date as the flight, though, usually people try to arrive in advance. In any case, I am glad that your friend still has a son.

Iggy, how many speaking engagements do you do a year? When I was on the "tour", it was common to hit two cities on the same day -- fly in about 7am, do the first, leave out at lunch, hit the second town at 2pm, do the second, fly out just after supper. Then get home about 2am, and up again at 5:30 to catch the next flight out of town.

LLoyd

AA11 left Boston around 7:45 am IIRC, and would have arrived in Los Angeles before 11am local time -- loads of time for an afternoon presentation. I didn't learn of this until Wednesday the 12th, when I got an email from my friend; the subject line said simply "Thank God."

My wife has a cousin who worked for Morgan Stanley. He was sitting at LaGuardia, waiting for a flight out, when one of the planes hit the tower that his office was in. Many of his co-workers didn't survive.

The last US Army shuttle bus I rode, the day i was discharged (from Ft Greely (Delta Junction) to Fairbanks, AK) went over a cliff a few days later, on the same route. It was on a road cut into the side of a mountain. Straight up on one side, and straight down on the other. Some family members of one of the people I worked with were on the bus that trip. Luckily, it was stopped by a tree growing out the side of the mountain, but there were a lot of serious injuries. i never did hear if anyone died but the bus was a piece of scrap metal. With the angle the bus was sitting, its a wonder they didn't fall through the windshield and on to the rocks, below.

Shrug...good kharma, bad kharma...

I once had a sudden stomach cramp and instantly bent over a bit (dysentery) and the bullet that would have hit me in the side of the head, blew off the face of the guy standing beside me

Lots of that sort of story in the world.

All you can do is shrug, give a quiet thanks to what ever diety you subscribe to, and drive on.

Each and every one of us is 15 seconds away from death. Fortunately..we manage to evade it pretty well for the most part.

Gunner

This Message is guaranteed environmentally friendly Manufactured with 10% post consumer ASCII Meets all EPA regulations for clean air Using only naturally occuring fibers Use the Message with confidance. (Some settling may occure in transit.) (Best if Used before May 13, 2009)

Daily.

I've had other close calls, but it's rare to find out a year or more later that it missed you. Another time I was hit head on, on the way home from work. I had trouble convincing the police officer that I was driving the crushed '83 Toyota pickup truck and not only survived, but just lost a patch of hair that was caught in the rear window and ripped out after the truck came to a stop, and I went forward a second time.

Last year three of 4 people died in quebec canada in a cosmetics factory. My WELDING GAS supplier sent every one of its customers a letter s a warning and reminder

Two welders and one or two plant staff

Welder was working INSIDE a tank using shielding gas And the welder collapsed his partner went after him and collapsed too

A plant safety person went in after them both and ALSO collapsed and died

The welding gas pushed the oxygen out (Gas not specified)

They didnt specify whether or not the welder was getting air pumped in and was welding with a respirator but it sounds liek they werent

I cant find a link to the story anywhere now but people dont learn at times and i'm keeping this story in mind as i set up my welding table in a 20 foot shipping container

a little heating/cooling inefficiency due to air penetration is well worth risking your life by depleting the oxygen from your environment