Colorado Dairy Farm Confined Space Deaths Highlight Cow Manure Risk

• Last week’s confined space incident in Colorado is the latest example of the safety risks workers face on dairy farms, with the source of the explosion seen as toxic gas from cow manure, Vox reported.
• Six workers — five adults and one teenager — were killed at the farm 45 miles northeast of Denver.
• Local officials haven’t said much about the deaths, other than confirming the victims died from “gas exposure in a confined space.”
  According to two unnamed dairy industry sources who spoke with Denver’s ABC affiliate, a contractor working on an underground manure pit
• accidentally turned on a valve or pump that released hydrogen sulfide, a gas that is formed by decomposing animal manure. Exposure to the gas caused the worker to collapse “almost instantly,” according to a dairy industry publication.
• In an attempt to rescue him, five other workers at the farm, called Prospect Valley Dairy, entered the underground manure pit and met the same fate (a supervisor had reportedly warned them against doing so).
• Breathing in high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide can cause rapid unconsciousness and “nearly instant death,” according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is now investigating the Colorado deaths.
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Nova Scotia Workplace Harassment Regs Take Effect

• Employers in Nova Scotia must establish and implement a written harassment prevention policy, as of Sept. 1.
• Part of the provincial government’s “Stronger Workplaces” bill, the regulation aims to create safer, more respectful environments for all workers.
• The now-required policy must provide a statement affirming employees’ right to a harassment-free workplace, along with procedures for reporting and investigating incidents, and training on recognizing, preventing, and responding to harassment.
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