Confined Space Entry Violation Kills One; Grave Injuries to Two Others

The Los Angeles Times reported that a man trying to help two others who were overcome by fumes in a container died after becoming overcome by ethanol fumes.

Here’s the story:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/01/worker-who-died-in-atwater-village-industrial-accident-was-trying-to-aid-colleagues.html

Do you have spaces with vapors and inadequate ventilation?

Seems like a proactive risk assessment could have prevented this fatality.

Also, proper procedures and a pre-job brief seems like a good idea when dealing with hazardous substances.

Of course, all of this should have been (and was) required by regulations and management standards.

So why did this failure occur?

Time for advanced root cause analysis.