we dont count death boats…
Did guy in when i was working at Ensco, not on my rig
I got gassed once with hydrogen sulfide, not a big deal, we ran away. Later on someone told me we were lucky, it stinks at low levels, but high levels can’t be smelled???
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It only has the rotten egg odor at low concentrations. When I worked for Mobil we’d occasionally load a particularly foul crude oil (“Elwood Crude”) that was high in H2S (before vapor recovery systems a\nd closed loading were common). We’d have to wear badges that would change color when we reached the limit of “safe” exposure. After several ABs maxed out sooner that was expected, we learned they were leaving their badges on deck when they went inside.
If you can smell it, that’s good. It’s when you can’t smell it that it’s bad - a hit of around 700 ppm will kill you almost instantly. Always makes me feel good when we carry the 4,000 ppm stuff…
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I used to have a gas detector from a coal mine that clipped on your belt and vibrated when it detected something and beeped too. Mine was for CO, but there were “4 gas” versions to be had that did CO, methane, low O2, and something else I cannot recall - maybe hydrogen sulfide??
There is a horrific video around shot somewhere in Mexico we had to watch for hazmat training where the whole workforce climbed into a tank one by one to save the other ones and video showed them all 4 or 5 of them dead in the tank 
It’s well known that lifeboats have killed more people than they have saved. I will take a wild guess and presume this hasn’t happened from inside a confined space which was the context of the discussion.
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Problem is when the shit hits the fan there aren’t a lot of H&S folks around to supervise. A lot of the training done is just a box to check off for the client. The client wants to avoid liability of course. If one runs realistic drills that is great. I have seen lives saved due to drills with realism. But many times I have seen safety programs relegated to " you need to watch this safety video, it required."
In an ideal world lifeboat drills should be done at some set aside time with the oversight of class and manufacturers reps and it would not have to be done monthly. The equipment being carefully inspected before hand. Life at sea as changed and too often the drill is being done by people who should be asleep.
The port near where I live had a cup that was keenly contested by merchant ships crews over a mile and a half back when life was more leisurely. The Montague whaler Naval Whalers — National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy that I trained in as a young man were launched as a sea boat by day and by night up to sea sea state 6 . Everything was manual and there was inevitably some scrapes and dings but these were minor.
I have seen that mentality as well, and it takes a lot of work to establish a culture where that doesn’t exist. It’s hard but possible, and at-risk every time new people come into the fold (insert SSEs here). Once you have a good safety culture, it sure is easier to lose it than it was to build - by far. That’s part of the daily challenge. Human nature will always lean heavily toward intuition and that’s not always a good thing in an environment off the rails. You are the H&S folk and the safety leader. Making excuses with respect to safety and showing a lack of commitment doesn’t work too well in my part of the world, and it shouldn’t in anyone else’s in an inherently high-risk business, but it is true that a lack of accountability will result in the opposite outcome. Agree wholeheartedly with respect to the drills. I’m certainly with you on witnessing drills that have saved lives. I have also seen the loss of life as well in the work place. If there is anything that will motivate you more, that’s it.
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yes when its strong you are dead at first breath and you wont smell it
It is sad that people shall die in enclosed space on ships at sea. Such spaces are oil cargo tanks, ballast tanks, cofferdams/void spaces and other tanks. Empty oil cargo tanks are easy to ventilate after cleaning – you use the inert gas system and first purge the tank and then fill it with fresh air. Ballast tanks may become death traps as the oxygen in the air reacts with the steel and becomes rust. Portable fans with hoses are the solution to ensure fresh air in the tank before entry. Cofferdams are deep and narrow and if you find liquids or gas in them you have a problem. There must be a leakage/crack somewhere. Other tanks include epoxy coated sewage tanks that sooner or later will start to leak due to corrosion. Regardless, on my ships when I am inside an enclosed space to have a look, no other activity is allowed onboard except stand-by outside to help me if necessary. The worst enclosed space I refused to enter was a double hull tanker side/bottom ballast tank. It was 60 m long, 28 m deep and 2-3 m wide and had been found full of cargo oil and hydrocarbon gas due to crack in the structure. It was very difficult to clean and ventilate that tank just for a look. I still wonder how they accessed it.
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Was someone trying to send you in there without gear to just look around? Kind of like a human coal mine canary 
- actually those birds really did work, they have such fast metabolism they go down before you do (mostly)
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They must have botched the job, judging from your crackpot posts and loony conspiracy theories.
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They probably ventilated it properly once they found out their plan to coax you into it failed.
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Have you ever been inside a double hull tanker ballast tank with slippery horizontal stringers and girders and transverse floors everywhere due to oil leakage?
Yes. 
Once I was performing a Full Condition Survey. The FP had been blown with fresh air for several hours, and the O2 reading was perfect. I entered with the Superintendent and an AB. The AB stayed on the top stringer, whilst the Bo’s’un stood at the manhole. The Super and I went down, stringer by stringer. I finally reached the bottom, where there was little water, but the Super stayed on the 1st stringer. I noted oil stains on the keel and frames, evidently suctioned in during ballasting. There were no signs of sheen, nor smell. I immediately exited the bottom and told the Superintendent. He in turn, wanted to go down to examine it. I told him not to. But he insisted. I told him that it was dangerous, and all the blah – blah – blah to that effect, but to no avail. So, as he was going down, I stayed on the 1st stringer and told him in no uncertain terms, that if he faints, or even slips and falls down, I won’t go in after him – I’ll just exit quickly and notify the crew.
He went down, anyway, and… he survived. No fumes, nothing. But, having to tell someone that if they are dying, that I will not go in after them, that stayed with me. Ever since then, I’ve been even stricter with the Encloses Spaces Entry Procedures.
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Greater priority should be given during design and construction to permit more effective cleaning and ventilation of tanks and void spaces.
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why do that it will only make it safer and cost more…
Just find cheaper workers…
Disposable workers?
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