Got a call from one of my Contractor Clients this morning. Apparently, they have a crew working this morning at a job site. NAVFAC Safety drove right by their job site and noticed that the crew was not wearing PPE. He pulled over, took some pictures, and talked with the supervisor.
The call came in a few minutes ago from the corporate safety, asking me to intercept since I know the NAVFAC Safety Inspector. Before I committed to that request. I asked several questions:
Is that job authorized for today, It's Sunday today?
Yes, I am sure it is, but I will confirm authorization for today.
Why was the crew not in PPE?
The supervisor thought they didn't have to be in PPE because it's Sunday.
What job is this?
Fencing project.
Where is the job site?
Central
How many involved?
3 or 4 workers including supervisor. I'll confirm number.
After hearing the story and asking several questions, I gave instructions on what shall be done before I even consider intercepting this issue.
- I want the Supervisor written up.
- I want the crew to go through a Safety Stand Down regarding PPE and the Standard, EM 385-1-1, Section 5 Personal Protection Equipment.
- I need pictures of the unserviceable PPE that was confiscated from the workers and the new PPE issued to those workers.
- I need all documentation emailed to me no later than 0700 hours tomorrow morning.
I accepted the request. NO Promises, NO Guarantees that they get off.
I hope the contractor client knows that I'm going to send them a huge invoice for this issue.
We had an experience this morning at the job site.
This morning at approximately 0700 hours, there was a peculiar smell in the air. Somebody had probably overfilled their fuel tank with diesel and it's now causing this heavy concentration of odor blowing into our canopy area, so I thought.
At first we assumed it was the front end loader since it was almost directly in front of us moving loads into the dump trucks. The project super called the subcontractor's lead equipment operator/supervisor to have him check the front end loader. A little bit later, the call came back that it wasn't the front end loader, but they did a check on all their heavy equipment on site. None were leaking fluids.
The subcon super came by the canopy and informed us that the smell is getting worse and coming from the other side of the building. So I went out to check, while the project super, and primary safety checked the building. As I walked over to 12th street, the odor was pretty strong and concentrated in that area. I walked back to the group of leaders, and the decision was made to call, Control. I informed the primary safety, that I felt dizzy and my throat felt constricted.
As I walked back to 12th street, the building was being emptied out, the workers in there were complaining of the strong odor inside the building. I crossed over the orange fence barrier and stopped a worker who was operating the jumping jack, and ordered him to evacuate to the gate. There was a backhoe operator still working. I signaled him to stop and evacuate. Most everyone were trying to cover the nose and mouths due to the concentration of the unknown gas odor. A lot of the workers were scrambling to get into vehicles to evacuate. At the canopy, I ordered 3 stragglers to move out. The project superintendent had already left to inform Control to what was going on. The primary safety had a left to lead the workers out to the gate. Being Rear End Charlie, I made sure that all the workers were gone from the job site, as I got into my truck and drove around the different gathering areas to insure that there was nobody left behind.
My eyes were tearing and I was gagging. Had to stop once to throw up on the road. As I got on the hardtop from the gravel road. I told myself, to hell with the speed limit and sped up to catch up with the convoy heading out. I was already dry heaving inside the truck. I turned my AC on high and closed the fresh air vent to recirculate the air. Finally, at the gate...Federal Fire was there with a SUV, an Engine, and an Ambulance. The project superintendent had to turn around to show FedFire where the job site was at. I drove through the gate, and parked next to the other subcontractor vehicles. As I exited the truck, I walked to the back to get some fresh air, and threw up the last of my breakfast. I got a bottle of water from the backseat, and gargled a couple of times to get that taste out of my mouth.
At the evacuation site, we learned that I wasn't the only one that was affected by the unknown odor. 2 or maybe 3 workers from one subcontractor complained of dizziness and nausea. Another subcontractor had 2 workers that complained of their throats tightening up or scratchy. A total of 6 workers were affected by that unknown gas odor.
About an hour later, the military officials declared the job site, clear. They assessed that the odor came from the front end loader that was leaking hydraulic fluid. The lead operator and I agreed that it wasn't the front end loader. That the military's assessment was wrong. Just to be safe, I ordered that the front end loader get checked out again.
Back at the job site, I drove up and parked close to the front end loader. The lead operator supervisor and operator assured me it wasn't the equipment. The hydraulic line broke as they parked the equipment just before we called for the evacuation. The Environmental Officer was still on site doing his assessment. I had walked around to the other side of the building to watch a crew off load CMU blocks. I could still smell that odor in the air. I walked to the other crew that was operating the jumping jack. As I got there, the backhoe operator informed me that the foreman from the other crew was trying to get my attention. When I walked back to the crew off loading the CMU blocks. I noticed that they were covering there nose and mouths again. Then I smelled the unknown odor again. Still strong, but not as concentrated as before the evacuation. I signaled the project superintendent to come over, and discussed the issue with the other foreman. We agreed that the odor was coming from C Avenue and blowing right into the job site since it was an open area.
Again, the project super informed our military liaisons about the situation, the Environmental officer left the site to talk with those higher in the chain of command.
I pray that this odor is not hazardous. We were told that the odor possibly came from a LPG container burst. I have this burning sensation around my eyelids and top of my lip. Also, my lungs hurt. I'm still here...so I must be okay. I'll head in to see my doctor tomorrow.
ESTA
