Page 48 - Occupational Health & Safety, August 2017

CONFINED SPACES
Is‘BigBrother’WatchingMeorMyBack?
If your best friend, whom you’ve known for years, suddenly fell over in a confined space, how would you respond? Would you rush in to save him or her?
BY JASON FRY
With the technology available today, you’ve probably thought a time or two, “Who is watching me?” Let’s get real for a moment. Someone is monitoring some aspect of someone’s life, somewhere. The ques- tion is, for what purpose? Well, now that I’ve got your conspiracy theory gears going, let’s shift those gears and talk about the positive use for this technology: preserving life.
A gas monitor that can alert you of hazardous conditions, record user and site data, communicate with nearby devices, and signal for help is not a bad thing! In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The untrusting sort may believe this data is being collected for fu- ture use against them—to track their whereabouts and determine whether or not they are working, whether or not the gas detector is turned on, so on and so forth. Well, if we’re talking about confined space entry or continuous monitoring, the gas detec-
tor gad better be turned on! What you may or may not be doing while you’re on the clock is irrelevant in this article. I want to focus on one very specific point: Someone should have your back. In the mili- tary, we have the buddy system. I’ve heard the term “Brother’s Keeper” in some industries and in others, it’s the two-man rule. No matter where you go, if the situation is dangerous, you shouldn’t be alone. So whom can you count on in an emergency?
Many strong relationships are formed in the work- place, and people spend many years growing older working side by side—spending time with each oth- er’s families at parties, picnics, holidays, school events, etc. We become close, like family, and far too often, a single fatality on the job becomes a tragedy with mul- tiple casualties because of improper emergency re- sponse due to those relationships. If your best friend, whom you’ve known for years, suddenly fell over in a confined space, how would you respond? Would you
42 Occupational Health & Safety | AUGUST 2017
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