Confined spaces such as tanks, containers and shafts represent a major danger. The good news is that you can significantly reduce the risks involved by understanding these environments and measuring air quality — before entering them. Here’s what you need to know.

Inhalation of toxic gases can kill you. It’s important that you perpetually monitor your breathing air to ensure that you and your employees are breathing air that is safe and free of such gases all the time.

A work environment may not seem like a confined space at first glance, but the surprising truth is that confined spaces exist in many forms. They are found in nearly every industry. Without a doubt, confined spaces expose workers to very real dangers.

We are the indoor generation. The EPA’s National Human Activity Pattern Survey (NHAPS) conducted 1992-1994 found that Americans spend about 87% of their time in enclosed buildings and about 6% of their time in enclosed vehicles.

Most companies have data that can be used to prioritize and analyze employees, processes or workspaces at elevated risk. But currently, most organizations must first compile and export their data from multiple EHSQ and HCM platforms and then analyze it outside of these applications.

COVE: The Center of Visual Expertise is pleased to announce its first open Visual Literacy Workshop for 2018! Typically focused on individual company implementations, this workshop will provide individuals and small teams the opportunity to learn how Visual Literacy can make a difference in safety and operational performance.

According to the National Safety Council, occupational injuries occur every seven seconds in the United States. Stringent regulation for the health and well-being of employees has led to advancements in processes, safety procedures, and first aid protocols to treat the injured.

Five years after a catastrophic ammonium nitrate explosion in West, Texas killed 15 persons, destroyed much of the city, and launched reforms in the way the federal government oversees the safety of the nation’s chemical facilities, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt last week told us that he cares more about the concerns of the chemical industry than he does about the millions of Americans living in the shadow of hazardous chemical facilities.

The IRSST has just made available a free online tool for analysing and managing the risks associated with work in confined spaces. The tool, called CLOSE, is intended for use by people already qualified for confined space risk management, including prevention officers, supervisors, clients, principal contractors, designer-integrators and rescuers.