HOW TO ENSURE EMPLOYEE SAFETY IN CONFINED SPACE INSPECTIONS

 

HOW TO ENSURE EMPLOYEE SAFETY IN CONFINED SPACE INSPECTIONS

WHAT ARE PERMIT REQUIRED CONFINED SPACES?

Employee safety is a mission-critical aspect of any company’s operations. The risks are even greater in confined space inspection scenarios. OSHA defines a permit-required confined space as having some, or all of the following characteristics:

  • Contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere
  • Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant
  • Has an internal configuration such that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or a floor that slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section
  • Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard


Confined Space Example

SAFETY IN INSPECTIONS

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 1,030 fatal occupational injuries involving confined spaces reported for the years 2011-2018. The top category of fatality involved “tanks, bins, and vats”, followed by “excavations and trenches”, and then “underground mines, caves and tunnels”. So, how do we mitigate risk and reduce fatalities?

A BETTER WAY FORWARD WITH UAV’S

Innovations in technology are providing new solutions that can significantly decrease these grim statistics. Most people have likely heard of the impact unmanned aerial vehicles have had on outdoor industrial applications like mapping and surveying, inspecting bridges and power lines, and even helping farmers determine optimal fertilizer mixes with specialized software. Now the revolution is moving indoors with the advent of confined space inspection drones.

These specialized units have some key differences with their outdoor predecessors. Outdoor drones use GPS for navigation, which provides the ability for some very useful features like “hover in place” and “return to home”. However, confined space inspection drones cannot take advantage of GPS and, at least for the near future, must be manually controlled by a skilled pilot. Most confined space drones have a collision-tolerant cage around them which provides the ability for close-up inspection of assets without the worry of a collision that could cause a propeller to break. Confined space inspection drones are also equipped with ample illumination, allowing for high quality video in the darkest environments.


Confined Space Drone Inspection

Capturing video data (as well as thermal, radiation, or gas detection) using a sophisticated collision-tolerant UAV versus having employees enter into dangerous spaces is a no brainer from a safety point of view. Even better, hiring a confined space UAV team will also save your firm significant time and money.

 

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