My employer, the City of Stockton has us take a lot of safety training courses. One of them was on proper confined space entry. In that course, I learned that 40% of victims of confined spaces are 'would be rescuers'. If there is something in a confined space that incapacitated your co-worker, it is very foolish to ignore the fact that it is likely to incapacitate you as well. Many private companies don't provide proper training for things like this, but it is absolutely inexcusable for the firefighter to have entered the manhole without his breathing apparatus. Surely, he was taught better.
Published by Brent Bouler, Water Treatment Plant Operator
My employer, the City of Stockton has us take a lot of safety training courses. One of them was on proper confined space entry. In that course, I learned that 40% of victims of confined spaces are 'would be rescuers'. If there is something in a confined space that incapacitated your co-worker, it is very foolish to ignore the fact that it is likely to incapacitate you as well. Many private companies don't provide proper training for things like this, but it is absolutely inexcusable for the firefighter to have entered the manhole without his breathing apparatus. Surely, he was taught better.