Air Quality In Enclosed Spaces – Tips For Dealing With Low Oxygen Environments

Working in enclosed spaces can bring a host of unseen hazards to the table that most workers might not think about in the course of their day to day activities.  In particular, welders and metal workers are vulnerable to finding themselves in situations where their lives are on the line despite no visible indication of danger.  This is because it is often they who are asked to enter into storage tanks, ship’s holds and silos in order to evaluate damage and make repairs.

Tight spaces can threaten the health of workers in a number of ways.  The first is the lack of oxygen that is often a feature of enclosed areas.  While the airways leading into and out of the space might not be completely sealed off, this sometimes only provides the illusion that airflow is sufficient to replenish the area with oxygen.  Once inside the structure, it can be difficult for workers to detect the effects of oxygen deprivation until it is too late.  These often include a disconnected feeling that makes it difficult to concentrate on even simple tasks, as well as short term memory issues and eventually a loss of consciousness.

Enclosed spaces can also harm workers thanks to the residues or gasses that have been left behind by the prior contents of the space.  This is particularly common in the shipping industry, where welders are usually asked to make repairs inside the empty hulls of tankers which have been host to crude oil or other types of chemicals.  Even though the upper areas of the tank might be clear of any toxic gases, the heavy nature of some of these vapors can often concentrate towards the bottom of a tank where they can overcome a worker far quicker than the oxygen starvation listed above.

There are several methods that can be used in order to make this type of work as safe as possible.  The first is to never go into an unknown enclosed area without proper breathing apparatus.  If there has been no recent air quality monitoring or data available regarding the space, it must be assumed that they are potentially dangerous.  In fact, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that enclosed spaces be tested for oxygen content and the presence of any potentially harmful gases before workers are allowed to enter.  Supplied air respirators from Allegro and 3-M can provide a steady supply of oxygen in a situation where conditions are borderline or too risky to work based on atmospheric oxygen content.

It also goes without saying that employees should never enter an enclosed space, whether to work or test the air quality, without first notifying a third party as to their intentions.  Having someone on the outside who is aware of how long you have been gone and where you are located can often be the difference between life and death in an oxygen-poor environment.  If possible, regular contact with outside personnel should be maintained, in order to provide external monitoring of a worker’s reaction times and responses for evidence of potential oxygen deprivation