Page 14 - OHS, July/August 2021

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Whether it’s eliminating the need to enter a permit- only confined space to clean accumulations of combustible dusts from grain elevators, or eliminating the amplified ergonomic, fall and overexertion hazards associated with cleaning non-permit confined spaces, such as blast recovery and sludge pits, industrial vacuum cleaners are an accepted engineering control to mitigate safety hazards and support compliance with OSHA and NFPA guidelines.
Employingindustrialvacuumsystems in housekeeping routines to remove dust and debris not only creates a safer environment but also saves companies tens of thousands of dollars per year in labor costs, equipment maintenance, material expenditures (through reclamation), and through increased uptime by reducing lengthy production interruptions for manual cleaning.
In environments where cleaning needs to occur in confined spaces, especially in permit-required spaces, the ROI of an industrial vacuum cleaning system
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quickly rises when vacuums allow for cleaning from outside the enclosed space or cut man hours in half.
OSHA defines a confined space as one that is large enough for an employee to enter fully and perform assigned work, is not designed for continuous occupancy and has a limited or restricted means of entry or exit.
A confined space becomes a permit- required confined space when inherent, introduced or potential serious hazards to health or life are present, such as hazardous atmospheres, materials that can engulf workers with spaces that can trap someone and other recognized serious hazards.
Permit-required confined space procedures are costly in terms of evaluation, training, PPE and the additional manpower needed to not only monitor entry, but to remain at the ready for the duration of a task,turningaone-personassignmentinto a four-person assignment.
Although necessary for safety and health, coordinating time-consuming entry into permit-required spaces for cleaning is sometimes regarded as a
nuisance which can result in less frequent housekeeping and maintenance activities in those spaces.
Some equipment that qualifies as confined spaces and are common in most industries, include tanks, silos, reaction vessels, vats, boilers, pits and mechanical conveyor enclosures. Combustible dusts and respiratory irritants are common hazardous substances that industrial vacuum cleaners mitigate in permit- required spaces.
In many plant environments, portable heavy duty industrial vacuum cleaners that are built to meet the rigorous demands of 24/7 industrial operations, facilitate cleaning from outside of confined spaces, as recommended in NFPA 350 Guide for Safe Confined Space Entry and Work 8.4.1.1, eliminating the need for entry.
OSHA does not regulate non-permit confined spaces, but cost and safety- oriented plant and safety managers understand the exacerbated safety hazards that exist when manually cleaning such spaces and look for solutions, such as industrial vacuums, to mitigate them.
Just as no two confined space areas have identical conditions, no two vacuum cleaning applications are the same. Many factors influence vacuum cleaning system design including the characteristics of the material cleaned (such as: abrasiveness, corrosiveness, flammability explosion hazard), volume collected, bulk density, particle size, filtration goals, maximum temperature, total number of pick-up points, the number of simultaneous operators, hose size, longest vertical and horizontal tubing runs from vacuum, available floor space and collection container considerations.
14 Occupational Health & Safety | JULY/AUGUST 2021
www.ohsonline.com
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Most industrial vacuum
systems require standard equipment with option capabilities to best fit a facilities application.
The range of industrial vacuums available for specific applications and debris, coupled with tools and accessories tailored to application needs, have advanced the equipment beyond general
cleaner