Safety Precautions When Working On Fuel Tanks
Safety is very paramount for confined space jobs, irrespective of how simple it may appear.
There are times we may be in a hurry to see a particular task is completed and such a moment is the most safety rule abused period because shortcuts can be used without regard for safety.
However, such has not paid any good fortune rather, accidents tend to be the most popular or frequent outcome.
Working inside a fuel tank is the same as working in a confined space. The safety precautions associated with the confined space job hand be used for the fuel tank since it is still a confined space job.
The risk involved in the job has made it mandatory for accurate safety precautions guidelines to be followed while on it.
There are lots of casualties arising from confined space jobs, though not in the form of physical injury rather the majority is coming from toxic gas attacks found in the space or due to lack of oxygen or less volume of oxygen in such space.
Working in a confined space like the fuel tank entails, working in an environment filled with the presence of gaseous molecules like petrol, kerosene, or diesel. When safety precautions are not in place the chance of carrying out such a job successfully is very minimal.
Irrespective of how urgent the job may appear, a confined space job should not be taken lightly like a minor job, even if the space is as small as a drum of 5 feet in diameter with a depth of 20 feet.
Experts have revealed that toxic gas in such space wouldn’t spare the life of the worker except proper safety measures are in place to overcome such effect.
When it comes to the fuel tanks used in the transportation of petrol, kerosene, or diesel the procedure remains almost the same. Such a tank usually has partitions in its interior.
The partition enables it to be divided based on litter per partition in a way that a single tank can be used to load petrol, kerosene, and diesel at the same time. Their openings for each partition above the fuel tank.
Though the divisions in its interior are necessary, it seems to make the washing or working on them difficult. There are occasions that will require a thorough cleaning of the fuel tank based on contamination or because it will be used for another substance other than the usual petroleum products.
Or there may be a situation where welding jobs need to be done on the welded sections of one or two of the partitions, in such cases; it will become a confined space job.
14 Mindful Safety Precautions When Working On Fuel Tanks
To handle such a job, here are the safety precautions associated with it:
- The first approach in carrying out such a job successfully is to make all the safety materials available. Some of the mandatory materials for it are; a gas tester, nose mask, ladder, eye goggle, ropes, rubber hand grove, gas expellers, etc.
- Access the size of the tank in terms of volume of interspace. Ask the following questions; how long has it been used? When was the last time it was used? And then check if the cover has been left open for a long time. This will help determine if the gas in it has reduced due to the opening of the cover for a long time. Having obtained this primary information proceed to the next step.
- Used the gas tester to check the percentage of gas present in the tank before deciding on the next procedure. To do that, use a rope and tie it to the edge or handle of the gas tester, and lower it into the tank until it touches the bottom of the tank. Allow the tester for about 5 minutes then bring it out and take the readings displayed on its screen. The volume of gas indicated by the tester will determine the next action.
- If the percentage of gas in the tank is above 30% of the oxygen in it. Then entering into the tank for any job may be a risk but if the gas is below such percent, you may work in the tank but with other safety precautions included.
- Assuming the percent is high, the next step is to use the gas expellers to reduce the presence of the gas to the possible minimum volume. To do that, position the two expellers such that the one blowing air inside the tank is in one opening while the one blowing the air out from the tank is in the other opening.
- Allow the expellers to operate for about 20 minutes and repeat the process of testing for the gas volume again to ensure it has reduced before entering inside the tank.
- If the tank has been used for a long time with petroleum products, it will be proper to allow the expellers stationed in their working condition while any job will be going on inside the tank.
- The next step is the timing style. It is not recommended to work in a confined space for a long time irrespective of how conducive the space may be. The maximum time of 30 minutes should be for working inside the tank while 20 minutes should be time to stay outside the space. The arrangement helps to keep the worker in a proper health condition free from the effects of the gas in the tank.
- Use a nose mask, for a place where the gas seems impossible to expel, using an oxygen tank for breathing is mandatory and that other safety rules can still be applied.
- If the tank has up to 10 feet in height, use a short ladder for entrance and exit from the tank.
- Use the eye goggles to protect your eyes from the harmful effects of the gases so that it wouldn’t affect your visibility when working inside.
- Stick to the time allocated for the job and never exceed it for any reason. That helps to avoid casualty in the job.
- It is important to orient your colleagues about the rules and the hazards associated with the job.
- It is very important to keep away any flammable things within the working environment to avoid possible fire outbreaks. If any of the workers is a smoker, the rule must be explained to the worker to ensure that the worker stays away from the tank and its surroundings while smoking.
Besides the above rules, others found necessary can still be added to ensure zero accidents in carrying out the job or any other that relates to it.
