“We have utilized external Confined Space Rescue services the last six years during outage periods to support emergency response, safety observations and medical treatment for minor injuries. We have had several companies support these efforts and although all companies we used performed better than anticipated with qualified support personnel we have found that Safety Compliance Services brings another level of commitment and professionalism. We discuss daily findings such as audits and observations that are documented with any deficiencies corrected by the SCS Technicians immediately. As a safety professional it is extremely beneficial that I have safety support at all times and throughout the entire project and locations by fully qualified personnel able to respond immediately supporting and coordinating with our employee based Emergency Response Team during any emergency situation. It allows my management team and I to sleep at night knowing that we have the proper support onsite around the clock!”
Kurt Puthe, Senior Safety Specialist, Logan Generating Station
Whether you desire Rescue and EMS support for a full maintenance outage, are conducting a work task in a location where specialized rescue capabilities would be needed to extract or remove an injured or ill worker, or are making entry into a single Permit Required confined space requiring an OSHA compliant rescue contingent, our Rescue Service Division is ready and able to assist you. Whatever your rescue needs, we will team with you to ensure the most effective standby rescue solution, performed by highly qualified, trained, and experienced professionals, is deployed at your worksite where you need them and when you need them. We provide service coast-to-coast from both our New York and Arizona locations.
Why a Rescue Service?
OSHA 1910.146 states that when employees enter permit required confined spaces that employers must “Develop and implement procedures …, for rescuing entrants from permit spaces, for providing necessary emergency services to rescued employees, and …”. OSHA requires employers to ensure the rescue of an incapacitated confined space entrant can be affected in a timeframe commensurate with the hazards of the space. This can be accomplished through use of trained and competent in-house rescue personnel, or through use of an outside rescue organization – either private contractors or municipal fire department.
Why Safety Compliance Services for your Rescue Service requirements?
What makes us different from most other rescue services is we are not just a group of firefighters who are practicing the rescue trade in our off-time. We began as a Safety company providing many years of safety support to industrial clients before we began providing standby rescue service. This allows our rescue team to provide unparalleled safety support to our customers in addition to highly proficient rescue service. When deployed, our rescue service is first and foremost a support mechanism to assist the customer in preventing an incident that necessitates the need for confined space or technical rescue. Should such a need arise, however, our rescuers are all highly trained, experienced, and well equipped to execute such rescues.
Key points that differentiate us from most rescue services:
| > | We work with each client to tailor safety support our rescuers will provide through the duration of our rescue standby |
| > | All of our rescuers are OSHA 30 hour trained and experienced in providing safety oversight |
| > | All of our rescuers are active or retired firefighters with years of emergency response and technical rescue experience |
| > | All of our rescuers are NFPA Confined Space Rescue and Rope Rescue Technician certified and we verify such competencies in-house |
| > | All of our rescuers receive annual training in OSHA required health and safety topics in addition to rescue training |
| > | All of our rescuers receive annual training through us as a team rather than rely solely on training received through their respective fire departments or other sources |
| > | We deploy fully equipped rescue trucks to all rescue standbys with an extensive rescue and safety equipment inventory |
| > | We will gladly provide all necessary training documentation for our rescuers upon request |
| > | We will gladly provide a copy of our Health and Safety program upon request |
| > | All of our rescuers (many of whom are professional firefighters) are employees of Safety Compliance Services fully covered by workers compensation insurance. |
| > | Our general liability insurance specifically covers confined space and technical rescue work ensuring our clients are fully and properly covered for the services we perform |
| > | We can deploy our Mobile Rescue Center (MRC) for 24/7 rescue coverage during maintenance outages providing on-site rescue and safety support 24/7 at a fraction of traditional 24/7 standby rescue service |
| > | We have the capacity to provide full Standby Rescue service to locations across the country and have the manpower and equipment resources to support at least 6 projects simultaneously allowing us to accommodate most last minute scheduling requests |
| > | We have performed over 70,000 man hours of standby rescue service so our organization, and our people, are highly experienced |
| > | We work extensively in the power generation industry providing rescue and safety support to gas turbine, coal, nuclear, and hydro facilities for over 20 years, making us uniquely familiar and competent with the rescue profiles present in these facilities |
5 Myths surrounding the use of Fire Departments for confined space rescue
Most employers have little understanding of the capabilities and operating protocols of a typical municipal Fire Department.
Myth #1: All fire departments are trained in confined space and technical rescue and can arrive at an employer’s worksite quickly and expeditiously affect a confined space or technical rescue.
Reality: This is NOT the case in the vast majority of fire departments across the country. Many fire departments have little or no capability to conduct safe and efficient confined space or technical rescue and rely on a mutual aid system to receive assistance from neighboring departments that may have such capability. This may mean the nearest technical rescue team is many minutes and even hours away from the worksite where the employee is trapped or injured.
Myth #2: All firefighters belonging to Fire Departments with technical rescue capability are trained in technical rescue.
Reality: Technical rescue requires extensive specialized training. Therefore fire departments with such capability designate specific individuals to receive such training and take part in technical rescue emergencies. In many cases, this means the confined space rescue contingent in many fire departments may take more time to respond to the worksite than the normal response for fire or medic.
Myth #3: Fire Department response times meet OSHA requirements for timely rescue.
Reality: During confined space entries at a worksite, the local fire department is not necessarily available for immediate response in an emergency. The local fire department technical rescue team responds to all natures of emergencies depending upon the particular department organization, which means most technical rescue teams also respond to calls for fire, medical, or other non-technical rescue emergencies meaning they may not be immediately available if and when they are called for an emergency during a confined space entry operation. In fact many fire departments with confined space rescue capability are unwilling to be the “designated” rescue service at a worksite within their jurisdiction due to their inability to guarantee “timely” response 100% of the time.
Myth #4: Notifying the Fire Department’s technical rescue team of the confined space entry operation satisfies OSHA’s requirement of ensuring an available rescue team.
Reality: OSHA states that employers must determine “whether the rescue service is unavailable at certain times of the day or in certain situations, the likelihood that key personnel of the rescue service might be unavailable at times, and, if the rescue service becomes unavailable while an entry is underway, whether the service has the capability of notifying the employer so that the employer can instruct the attendant to abort the entry immediately. Compliance may require the employer to be in close communication with the off-site rescue service immediately prior to each permit space entry. …the employer must ensure close communication with the rescue service during entry operations so that if the rescue service becomes unavailable while an entry is underway, the employer can instruct the attendant to abort the entry immediately.”
Myth #5: If the local Fire Department has confined space rescue capability, they can be designated as the rescuers for a worksite during confined space entry operations.
Reality: Although many fire departments have highly skilled, well equipped, and very competent confined space rescue teams, OSHA states an employer who designates rescue and emergency services is required to: “Evaluate a prospective rescue service’s ability, in terms of proficiency with rescue-related tasks and equipment, to function appropriately while rescuing entrants from the particular permit space or types of permit spaces identified”. It is the employer’s responsibility and obligation to evaluate the rescue service’s capability and proficiency in conducting rescues from the types of confined spaces present at the worksite before they may be designated as the rescue service.
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