Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: CONFINED

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees, in that, employees were exposed to working conditions and recognized hazards of possibly being overcome by toxic gas, oxygen deficient atmospheres, and carbon monoxide, while performing work duties within a manhole: (a) Jobsite; Northeastern University, Boston, MA, adjacent to the Snell engineering building: Northeastern University employees entered a manhole without following a confined space entry program procedure. Employees were exposed to the hazard of being asphyxiated due to the possible lack of oxygen at their work locations or being overcome by carbon monoxide or other contaminants. One abatement method is to enforce a confined space entry procedure such as stipulated by NIOSH criteria document publication No. 80-106, December 1979 in conjunction with training and providing instructions of the hazards and routine safety procedures/precautions of carbon monoxide, oxygen deficient atmospheres, and to other gases associated with their working environment.