My goal is to change the OSHA STANDARDS PERTAINING TO CONFINED SPACES AND NON-PERMITTABLE CONFINED SPACES. THE STANDARDS SHOULD BE THE SAME ACROSS THE BOARD, In any trade or instance. The difference is that a permittable confined space “requires” certain actions, for example: a qualified person should be at an entrance. Two people at all times. Another example would be air quality checks and Provided PPE. 

August 6, 2019 my son passed away on the job due to heatstroke. It appears though that he was electrocuted due to thermal burns on his back, and not heatstroke. He had 7” long gouges that no one can explain. HE WAS IN THE HVAC Industry. He was in and out of the attic all morning. He was working alone and left alone. He died alone with no one to check on him. We don’t have answers as to where the coworker was the whole time. He was supposed to be working on the A/C outside. There was no ventilation in the attic. It was 90 degrees outside that day. Humidity was over 90%. The floor of the attic was 109 and the peak was 114. My son was putting the furnace in the attic and took the brunt of getting it into the attic. He had no fans, no cooling vests and no way out.  He performed more of a workload than those in military. 

There are currently NO STANDARDS In place for this. Confined Space is an issue in this trade, or any trade. A Hot environment Is fatal. Too many people die because of the lack of a “simple” standard, and cheap companies who don’t care about their employees. No justice is served because businesses in Ohio are protected.

The homeowner specifically said he did not want the workers there because it was too hot. My son and his coworker did not get that message. The homeowner was also told that they would be okay and talked him into his appointment. 

The coworker was apparently not trained on what to recognize or do in this type of situation. The coworker contacted his company and was called back 45 minutes later and told to “pack his tools and head back to shop. The coworker and I have never spoken. My sons father committed suicide in Dec 2019. there was a recording of the coworker and my ex-husband. He Was corporative in the beginning but seemed coached. My ex-husband committed suicide over his first sons death leaving behind his other son and a new granddaughter. 

The company only received minimal punishment. Training employees, put hazards up, and Another important one was lock out tag out. Violation on that too. $13k is all they had to pay in fines and they were given the opportunity to make payments. Another company was fined over $200,000 for a man who lost a leg. This is injustice. Every life matters on the job.

It needs to be mandatory that:

1. All HVAC employees are provided cooling vests and a means to circulate air.  The company told OSHA that PPE was provided.  It was not. 

2. Two people in these types of spaces. If he tried to get out, he couldn’t. He couldn’tcrawl to a space that’s just a hole in the ceiling from the other end of the attic. He was stuck up there, leaning into the plenum. and down for over an hour.  It was too late when they noticed he wasn’t around. 

3. The Employer gives out incentives if you get your work done by a specific time. This pushes the employees to work harder and faster. My son was an extremely good worker. He deserves to be here. Give the bonuses at the end of the year on their job performance or abolish timeframes. 

Please help me to get these standards in place for ALL industries. 

This was a preventable death. Too many people are dying by this. They just let him die in my opinion. They did nothing to get him out of that confined space attic.