Federal workplace safety rules governing septic tank companies require they pretest and monitor air quality and send only trained workers inside vessels filled with toxic gases, an expert said Thursday.
A Swansea man who died Wednesday morning inside a residential sewer had been employed by his company for three days, his family said.
All we want is answers, said Tracy Howell, 28, sister-in-law of Duane Howell, 29, who worked for Lucas Septic Co.
An autopsy showed Howell died of asphyxiation in a 200-gallon tank at a home in western Lexington County near Lake Murray, the county coroners office said.
Oxygen readings inside the tank hovered around 18 percent, county Fire Chief David Fulmer said.
Federal safety regulations require monitors with alarms when entering a tank whose oxygen content dips below 19.5 percent.
Anything below 19.5 percent is unsafe, Fulmer said.
Company owner Bobby P. Lucas on Thursday declined to comment on the incident.
Sharon Gritten, a workplace safety consultant employed by the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, said regulations demand that workers be trained before they are sent into confined spaces like septic tanks.
They cannot get around that, Gritten said of employers. They (workers) have to be trained.
The training rule states that only workers thoroughly trained enter a tank. The employee must be one who has been shown to follow ... procedures exactly, Gritten said.
Gritten was commenting to explain federal regulations, not specifically about the LLR investigation of Howells death. Its findings are due in about five weeks.
Gritten said federal regulations do not spell out the length of the training.
But she said the training rules require that septic companies document:
That workers know how to test the air with the proper equipment
That workers can identify hazards and be equipped to deal with them
That employers consult with workers about the circumstances and dangers of each job
That employers have written rescue procedures, including a safety line
Jim Knight, spokesman for the states workplace safety enforcers, said federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards require companies to protect workers.
If an employer sends an employee into a blatantly hazardous environment, Knight said, that would be a violation of the golden rule of OSHA, which is an employer must provide employees with a safe and healthy work site.
Chris Nance, owner of C & B Drainage Systems, said he cannot understand why anyone would enter a septic tank without fresh air.
Dont go into a septic environment without oxygen. Thats all there is to it, said Nance, whose company performs smaller jobs than the one where Howell died.
Knight and Gritten reviewed safety regulations Thursday with The State.
In addition to providing training, septic tank employers are allowed to determine whether they must have a permit before descending into a tank, they said.
In a self-regulating process, employers can bypass the permit by documenting that they have tested the site, made appropriate safety arrangements and notified workers of those arrangements.
Before sending a worker into a tank, employers must always use a three-page checklist of safety rules and have a written copy of company rescue procedures.
Once a worker is inside, employers must provide constant air flow, often with a fan, and continuously monitor the air quality.
According to a police report, Howell descended through a 24-inch opening to fix a faulty flow valve at 170 Bob Sharpe Point.
The tank is about 15 feet underground. Such tanks rarely have oxygen and are high in methane or other toxic gases, safety officials said.
Fulmer, the fire chief, said the gases in the tank were highly explosive.
When Howell reached the tank bottom, he collapsed, according to the police report.
Co-worker Jimmy Lykes, 59, tried to go in after Howell but could not fit through the opening, the report shows. Lykes declined to comment Thursday.
A third worker, Verno Huggins, 58, went after Howell.
Huggins passed out.
At 11:40 a.m., Lykes had the homeowner call 911.
Volunteer firefighter Jerry Wise was the first rescuer on the scene because he lives nearby.
Wise said he rushed to the tank and stuck his head into the 24-inch opening.
I noticed no smell, Wise said later. Thats why I felt fully safe.
Wise grabbed the unconscious Huggins by the sleeve to keep him from falling from an internal ladder to the tank bottom.
Wise slipped a rope around the victims chest and pulled him up. Huggins had stopped breathing while inside the tank, Wise said.
Once he was outside, rescuers performed chest compression until Huggins began breathing.
We knew at least there was a chance, Wise said.
Huggins was in critical condition Thursday morning at Lexington Medical Center, sheriffs department spokesman John Allard said.
Staff writers Lauren Leach and Adam Beam contributed to this article.
Reach LeBlanc at (803) 771-8664.
Distributed by the Associated Press
