Study suggests on-site rescue personnel needed

Many employers are mistakenly relying upon public fire departments to rescue workers from confined spaces, such as water and sewer pipes, manholes and tunnels, according to an analysis by University of California, Berkeley, health researchers of hundreds of deaths in the United States over 13 years.

Since fire crews need time to evaluate the hazards at a specific site, companies should instead have rescue personnel stationed at the entrance of potentially dangerous confined spaces who can pull workers out more quickly in an emergency, the study concludes.

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/02/13/confined-spaces/

[Added note: Study published in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, available to AIHA members].