Confined space safety failings cost a life and $500,000 for tank cleaning company

The company Depot Vic (formerly known as Hyde Park Tank Depot), which cleans and repairs storage tanks for the chemical industry, was recently convicted and fined $500,000 for failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace and failing to properly train and instruct its employees. The incident involved the death of a worker who was overcome by chemical fumes in a large empty tank at the company’s premises in 2007.

The Director of WorkSafe’s Manufacturing, Logistics and Agriculture Program, Ross Pilkington, said: “Whether tanks, silos drains or pits were involved; confined spaces are high-risk, high-consequence environments. With the addition of chemicals and gases into these places, those risks are magnified.

“Safeguards include having, and using, systems of work which incorporate safe work procedures, appropriate atmospheric testing and personal protective equipment saves lives.

“Developing hazard identification and risk assessment systems to control access such as a ‘confined space entry permit’ is a common approach.”

WorkSafe’s investigation found the worker had used a chemical to remove latex from inside the tank but he could not be revived by workmates who found him. The investigation found the company’s training and application of appropriate safety standards were inadequate and that it failed to provide or maintain supervision of workers.

WorkSafe estimated the chemical concentration in the tank would have been around 100,000 parts per million (ppm), well above the levels considered ‘acutely lethal’ (20,000 ppm) and ‘immediately life threatening’ (50,000 ppm).

Depot Vic could not produce a Material Safety Data Sheet produced by the manufacturer of the chemical used on the day the worker died. It would have indicated that the product contained methylene chloride and the health hazards associated with it. These included dizziness, impaired coordination and headaches.

It was also found that the company did not provide its employees with written safety procedures for the use of paint stripper which was also used to clean the insides of tanks; confined space entry permits were not used; inappropriate breathing equipment was used by workers inside tanks being cleaned; no rehearsal of emergency procedures had been conducted (a coworker entered the tank to rescue the deceased without personal protective equipment and had to get out after 15-30 seconds because of dizziness).

The company did have a written procedure for confined space entry and had trained its employees in confined space entry (including annual refresher training) and had provided protective equipment, but they were not in Vietnamese which would have been appropriate to workers involved in the tank cleaning work.