Confined Confined Space Entry - Inside Pipeline

[Lewis_RX8]

Looks like an american pipeline , on some wheeled boards to repair a defect in a pipeline 1400ft deep in the 3ft dia pipeline, How can they be sure they even have oxygen

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Looks rather dodgy in my opinion however anyone seen anything like this?

 

[Munkul]

The walls look clean, and I assume they have a gas monitor, and the line was force ventilated before entry. Easy enough stuff to get right these days.
The rescue plan is the hard bit... I've no experience with pipelines so not sure what the standard practice is.

 

[Brad93]

Usually there will be a trolley or carriage to drag them out and a specialist rescue team to go in and do the rescue. They would also have BA gear with enough oxygen to get them out of the confined space.

 

[Brad93]

To be honest watching the video it looks like classic American health and safety, ‘OSHA is this okay’. I don’t see them with any BA gear nor guide rope to drag them back. There’s a lot of dust in there too.

having refused to do confined space work that was dangerous and been sacked for it, good luck to them. You don’t get any chances when it comes to confined spaces.

 

[addjunkie]

To be honest watching the video it looks like classic American health and safety, ‘OSHA is this okay’. I don’t see them with any BA gear nor guide rope to drag them back. There’s a lot of dust in there too.

having refused to do confined space work that was dangerous and been sacked for it, good luck to them. You don’t get any chances when it comes to confined spaces.

I agree with this. That pipe line looks very clean inside. Youd need forced ventilation with gas detection on the inlet to prevent non suitable air been blown in, as well as minitoring locally. Escape sets etc. As said earlier the rescue plan is the hard bit.

All the pipeline repairs Ive been involved with on an existing pipline was done from outside while oil filled.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

What method of repair would they be going in to carry out? Welding?

 

[8ob]

Unless that's a dwarf welder I would say its more like 4` in diameter Working in those conditions is nothing new, a mate of mine was on an internal sealing contract with the water board, crawling up miles of pipe with a grinder and devcon sealing up leaking joints from the inside,not nice but the money was good

Bob

 

[Pete.]

I agree with this. That pipe line looks very clean inside. Youd need forced ventilation with gas detection on the inlet to prevent non suitable air been blown in, as well as minitoring locally. Escape sets etc. As said earlier the rescue plan is the hard bit.

All the pipeline repairs Ive been involved with on an existing pipline was done from outside while oil filled.

Gas detection on the inlet would only tell you WHEN unsuitable air had been blown in. Too late now.

TBH if you were managing that work in the UK and someone ended up dead you'd be staring down the barrel of a jail sentence. I wouldn't sanction it.

 

[Munkul]

Re-read it again....1400 feet down the line... half a kilometre. With zero rescue plan, it looks like.

No thank you.

 

[mr haynes]

Only thing missing is the baby alligators

no no no no nooooooooooo thank you, i'll just stay poor

 

[Lewis_RX8]

Agreed , don't think it is safe at all. They are going downhill at a gradient and if one of them needs to be rescued the other guy will have to pull him all the way up. Then if they are both incapacitated due to air getting a team with BA down there for rescue

To be honest watching the video it looks like classic American health and safety, ‘OSHA is this okay’. I don’t see them with any BA gear nor guide rope to drag them back. There’s a lot of dust in there too.

having refused to do confined space work that was dangerous and been sacked for it, good luck to them. You don’t get any chances when it comes to confined spaces.

Seen that before , Stupid confined spaces no rescue no special gear just hoping something doesn't go wrong

 

[Brad93]

I don’t know where it happened but there was one occasion where three guys went into a converter or a cracker one after another and they all died.

 

[Brad93]

 

[Bryan Williams]

Mate told me stories about a small sweatshop fabshop, the lads are their own worst enemies.
Working at the bottom of a reservior valve tower, they had escape oxygen but they left them up top as it was too much kit to carry down, dangled halogen lamps down. Guy telling me the story refused to go down quoting the training he had the week before on confined spaces, intrinsic torches, non sparking tools and all that.
Had a big row, he stayed up as top man while they merrily angle grinded away down below without masks in galv dust.
Top of Saddleworth,, no phone signal, a useless tripod and winch that was supposed to be able to wind a man back up..
Still going on everyday round here.
Talking about the pipe work, another local used to spray, power coat big industrial stuff, one day they had the bosses son in a pipe the length of the workshop dragged back along the pipe by rope arms outstretched so he could scrape clean the pipe.
The place eventually shut after a flash explosion in a spray booth, two fellas (one, the son) well singed.
Police forensic team parked up all week.
Still my mates lot were dangling of ladders welding in the rain.

 

[addjunkie]

I don’t know where it happened but there was one occasion where three guys went into a converter or a cracker one after another and they all died.

That happens about every 18 months or so workd wide if you keep up with industry safety flashes. Quite sad really as confined space entry is nothing new.

Gas detection on the inlet would only tell you WHEN unsuitable air had been blown in. Too late now.

TBH if you were managing that work in the UK and someone ended up dead you'd be staring down the barrel of a jail sentence. I wouldn't sanction it.

In industry where you are using forced ventilation and there is a risk of blowing in non suitable mixtures for breathing, for example gas in an oil plant, hydrogen sulphide etc or exhaust fumes, from site generators it is standard practice to use detection on the inlet and at the work location. Very common on pressurised enclosures for welding in a hazardous area too. Any gas stops fan and shuts power down gives folks inside a chance of escape before the pressurised enclosure is filled with an unsafe atmosphere. Detection would be for both breathability ie o2 content and flamable gasses.

I wouldnt sanction it either down a pipeline but have managed and been the accountable person on many many CSE type jobs using forced ventilation.

Why put a person in when there are so many engineered solutions.

 

[grim_d]

To be honest watching the video it looks like classic American health and safety, ‘OSHA is this okay’. I don’t see them with any BA gear nor guide rope to drag them back. There’s a lot of dust in there too.

having refused to do confined space work that was dangerous and been sacked for it, good luck to them. You don’t get any chances when it comes to confined spaces.

Whilst I was no stranger to refusing to do things I didn't consider safe I managed to completely dodge fuel tank entry due to my "tactical fatness".

 

[Munkul]

Whilst I was no stranger to refusing to do things I didn't consider safe I managed to completely dodge fuel tank entry due to my "tactical fatness".

One of my usual vessel inspectors is rather round, and he always amazes me when he manages to squeeze himself into tight manways with harness etc on... Sometimes he'll squeeze in and then get the torch etc passed in afterwards.
One time he jumped into a mix tank and I was on top man duty. One of the fitters came by and said "is that one of the 7 modern wonders of the world? That man, getting in that hole!"

 

[addjunkie]

One of my usual vessel inspectors is rather round, and he always amazes me when he manages to squeeze himself into tight manways with harness etc on... Sometimes he'll squeeze in and then get the torch etc passed in afterwards.
One time he jumped into a mix tank and I was on top man duty. One of the fitters came by and said "is that one of the 7 modern wonders of the world? That man, getting in that hole!"

Try going in after him wearing a BA set to get him out in a rescue situation! Espescially if you need to move him through lightening holes in structural framing, to get him to the exit!

 

[gaz1]

reminds me of this

 

[Old boy welder]

Use to weld inside pipes on a power station job but only a few feet in, that's madness