I'm a construction foreman. Occasionally the work I have my crew perform involves entering what is called a "confined space" or a space that doesn't have ventilation such as a sewer manhole or other type of vault. The lack of ventilation may cause explosive or poisonous gases to accumulate or deplete the oxygen level. Entering such a space unprotected can lead to dire consequences.
My crew carries gear and equipment on their truck just for entering confined spaces. An atmosphere tester that detects explosive or poisonous gas and reads oxygen levels. The tester alarms if anything is amiss. The worker who is actually going to go into the space, or the entrant, wears rescue gear that consists of a harness attached to a winch mounted to a tripod. The rescue gear is what is used to get the entrant out if something goes wrong in the space. No one has to go in after him to carry him out. Just turn the crank. When the entrant goes into the space, an attendant stands at the hatch and watches the entrant the entire time the entrant is in the space.
Entering a confined space takes a lot of extra work and occasionally my crew will want to enter the space without using the gear. "Its only for a minute," they'll say. I always tell them that I could give a rat's ass if any of them die, I just don't want to do the paperwork involved in the fatality. This of course is said tongue in cheek. Then they bitch while setting up the gear and do the job right and when we are done we go home. In one piece. I've done scores of confined space entries and have never had an "incident."
Four guys go to work yesterday. Four guys I don't know but may have encountered at some point along the way. Anyway, yesterday afternoon some sort of work had to be done in a confined space. Here’s a photo of what it looks like at the surface:
The square in the middle of the round part is the hatch that leads to the confined space below
The bottom of this vault is 20 feet deep. Something was blocking a pump down there so a worker went down into the space to clear the problem. The worker collapsed so a second worker went down to help out the first. He collapsed so a third worker went down to help the first two. He collapsed. A fourth worker went down and he collapsed. Then someone called 911. The rescuers arrived but there was no one to rescue. Four bodies needed to be recovered.
Friends and family gathered:
As the grim task was performed:
At the news conference the Fire Chief said that the cause of death was a high level of hydrogen sulphide or “sewer gas.” He noted that the workers who died were not using any gear - no atmosphere tester, no rescue equipment, no ventilators, no masks - when they entered the confined space. What were they thinking?
Four guys went to work yesterday and died because they cut corners. “It’ll only take a minute.” “There’s never been a problem here before.” I’ve heard it many times. Four funerals being planned for four guys in their forty’s. Two of the four were brothers, a double tragedy for their families. The family of the brothers owned the company that employed all four of the deceased. An accident. A tragedy. A travesty. All preventable. What a waste.