Personal Gas Safety

Time for furnace tune-ups is here. Soon you will be taking the first no-heat calls of this heating season. No doubt you will be inspecting equipment for safety concerns that affect the customer. Don’t forget to pay attention to your own personal safety. Gas leaks, leaky vent systems, incorrect combustion, and lack of combustion air can all create immediate hazards to the service tech working on the system. There are pro-active steps you can take to stay safe while working on gas fired equipment.

Gas Leaks

If there are existing gas leaks it is possible that a combustible atmosphere exists in the space. Ideally, you want to check the air in the space for combustible gas before entering. You can use an electronic combustible gas detector for this. Many techs now use these to check for gas leaks, so you might already have the tool. Just turn it on and let it sample the air in the room as you enter. There are also personal detectors which you can wear to monitor the conditions wherever you are. If you do detect combustible gas in the room, do NOT turn on or off any electrical switches and leave the room. Shut off the gas outside and ventilate the room before continuing. You will have to turn the gas back on to find the leak, but you can ventilate the room and start with a safe atmosphere while you are doing it.

Carbon Monoxide

Negative room pressure, incorrect or leaky gas venting, and lack of combustion air can all contribute to a build-up of carbon monoxide in the room. You can’t smell or see carbon monoxide, so it is especially dangerous. Again, you should test the atmosphere in the room. There are electronic detectors made to check for carbon monoxide in the air, and some are made to wear to monitor the air continuously. If the monitor indicates a build-up of CO in the room, you should shut off the gas outside the room and ventilate the room. Once the room is cleared of CO you can start to look for the cause. Before turning the gas back on make sure to check for obvious things such as blocked combustion air intakes or compromised gas vents. After restarting the furnace you should check the flame color and test the flue for proper operation. Also be sure to check the flue gasses for CO.

Gas Ignition Problems

When observing a gas furnace light, you should never place your face directly in front of the furnace. If there is a delayed ignition or flame roll-out you can be inside the fire-ball. I have made that mistake. It was over before I knew what happened. For a second all I could see was yellow because my head was in the fireball that came out of the furnace. Luckily it just singed my eyebrows a bit and gave my face a slight burn similar to a sunburn. Afterwards I worked out what had happened: a leaky gas valve had allowed a build-up of gas prior to turning the furnace on. Had my face been off to the side I would not have been in the flames when they came out.

Don’t leave your personal safety to chance. 

Take steps to detect and avoid possible personal safety hazards. It is an inconvenience to the customer to have to call 911.

Keep Your Cool

This week I am passing along a tip contributed by a reader, Mike Lilley. He keeps cool by wearing a cooling vest. After doing a little research I found three types of vests for sale: one that circulates air, some that use evaporation, and some that use phase change gel. For attic work I think we can rule out the air vest because it works by circulating ambient air through the vest. In dry heat the evaporative vests should work well, especially outside. However, in an attic in the southeast, I think their performance would not be enough to keep you cool. Mike said that the workers at his company use cooling vests with phase-change gel packs.

The gel packs are similar to the blue-ice packs you might use for your cooler, with one big difference. This gel freezes and melts at 58°F. Remember that the temperature of a substance stays the same as it changes state. This is an important concept in making air conditioning work. This gel stays at 58°F until all of it has melted, and 58° is comfortable, as opposed to keeping a 0°F gel pack next to your body. Further, you can freeze the removable gel packs in a refrigerator or in a cooler with ice. A couple of users commented that it is important to keep the packs flat during the freezing process. Otherwise, the hard, lumpy gel packs make the vest uncomfortable. Here is a link to learn more about these cooling vests. I must tell you that I have not personally used one – yet. But is certainly sounds like a cool idea.

Here are a few links to learn more about cooling vests.  
https://www.amazon.com/TECHKEWL-Phase-Change-Cooling-Vest/dp/B0002EWKTS
http://www.coolvest.com/
http://www.mycoolingstore.com/cooling-vest.html

OSHA Updates Confined Space Safety Rules

Contractors who work in crawl spaces and attics may find the latest confined space regulations ... confining! Until recently, residential contractors rarely had to worry about confined space regulations. Now they will need to address confined space regulations on most jobs - both installation and service. OSHA just made changes to the confined spaces rules which will affect everyone that works in residential attics and crawl spaces. Considering that a large amount of residential HVAC equipment is installed in an attic or crawl space, these changes will affect residential HVAC contractors. A confined space is now defined as

1.         Large enough to get your body in
2.         Limited means for getting in and out
3.         Not designed for continuous occupancy

The employer is responsible for providing a competent person to inspect all confined spaces before work begins. This person is looking for any other hazards which can make the confined space more dangerous, such as toxic fumes, low oxygen, electrical hazard, fall hazard, or extreme temperature. (Note this is only a partial list.) If the confined space has any additional hazards it becomes a permitted confined space. Workers can only enter a permitted confined space for the purposes listed on the permit under the conditions and restrictions listed on the permit. A hazard warning must be posted at the entry to a permitted confined space and a permit issued that lists all the details regarding work in that particular confined space. There must be an attendant posted outside a permitted confined space any time a worker is in the space. There are many more regulations. This is honestly only the tip of the iceberg. Suffice it to say, you want to avoid having to declare the confined space a permit required confined space. 

You are allowed to remove hazards to accomplish this. For example, a typical attic with no floor is a permitted confined space based on the fall hazard. If you put boards down for the workers to walk on you remove that hazard, and it no longer requires a permit. Similarly, an electrical hazard can be removed by turning off all power to the confined space. If a confined space has no additional hazards, then you can use what OSHA refers to as an alternate procedure. For this, the competent person must determine that no additional hazards exist, or that they have been removed. The space needs continual positive ventilation while work is being performed. However, the permit and the attendant are not required. Note that this still requires a competent person to inspect the pace BEFORE work begins.

Some logical questions come to mind, such as

Who is the competent person?

The competent person can be one or more of your employees who have been trained to recognize hazards in confined spaces and can use test equipment to test for oxygen level, combustible gasses, or toxic gasses. In the event of an incident, they will be asked to clearly tell OSHA what procedures they used identifying the risks involved with the space. 

Where do I get the permit?

For confined spaces requiring a permit, your company generates the permit – not some government agency. The purpose of the permit is to clearly communicate the conditions under which the space may be entered and who may enter.

When does this go into effect?

The new rules will start being enforced on October 2, 2015.

Where can I read more about this? (Trust me, you NEED to even if you don’t WANT to)

 Final Ruling

Training Webinar Video

Enfocement Date 

OSHA Confined Space Page