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What happened?
Two workers were replacing a manway degassing cover on a tank inside a dike.
Fresh air while working was required as the tank had been in sour crude service.
Instead of using a supplied air respirator, they used 5 minute escape packs to provide air.
This was dangerous and against company respiratory protection policy, which stated the packs are for emergency egress only.
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Why did it happen?
The supervisor felt rushed to get the job done as this task was already delayed due to a lightning alert.
Invalid work permit and ignoring respirator protection policy:
- The work permit for the job was initiated, but not delivered to operations the previous day.
- The supervisor decided to ‘piggyback’ on previous day’s work permit.
- The permit was for outside the dike only, so the supervisor decided not to set-up the supplied air trailer.
- The supervisor directed his crew to use the escape packs for breathing air instead.
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What did they learn?
Follow local policies on use of respirators.
Do not work without a valid work permit.
The 5 minute air packs are emergency escape systems, designed to provide air in emergency situations only.
Delays in getting a job done are acceptable, but working without a permit is not.
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Ask yourself or your crew
What other controls should have been put in place?
Why shouldn’t these workers have used 5 minute emergency air packs? What could have happened?
Why must we work with a valid work permit?
Why do you think these workers did what they did? Have you ever done something similar?
What could we do to prevent something like this happening here?
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Published on 27/03/19
3095 Views
Two workers were replacing a manway degassing cover on a tank inside a dike. Instead of using a supplied air respirator, they used 5 minute escape packs to provide air.
