Hello, my workplace are considering this kit for use by trained and competent personnel to use in the event of someone needing rescue from a potential or known oxy-deficient atmosphere within a lab or similar environment. I believe the likelihood of this emergency happening (to be confirmed by risk assessment) would be very low based on other control measures such as buddy systems/lone worker procedure, alarm systems (personal and fixed).  My understanding is this kit was designed for use or escape in/from confined spaces. I've worked in many labs over the years and witnessed the very unsuccessful implementation of BA kit - took a lot of managing, created a lot of anxiety for the users because (even with regular training) they felt out of their depth using the kit, and when the RAs were reviewed it was concluded that there were more effective control measures (initially overlooked) to mitigate the risk. Even with this kit, I still have concerns about personnel entering areas that are potentially or known to be an oxygen-deficient atmosphere to rescue an unconscious person. As mentioned earlier, the likelihood of this happening is expected to be very low following RA review, and as we know doing drills is very different to a real emergency which can create another set of concerns that need considering. My view is that in the very unlikely event of someone becoming unconscious in a known or potential oxygen-deficient atmosphere (as a result of catastrophic failure in systems), do not put yourself and others at risk and call 999 (we are not in a remote area and emergency response time are good). Does anyone have any experience/thoughts they can share about this kit and type of scenarios/work environments it is used in? We have a supplier coming to our site to discuss, but I would be interested to hear the views of fellow H&S professionals. 

A Kurdziel is a good source of laboratory / government observation.

Personally I have never worked in a lab where oxygen depletion has been an issue due to controls on the materials present.

The closest scenario was when our R&D team suggested working with liquid Nitrogen but here we controlled the risk with plenty of natural ventilation during use.

I did have training at one facility with BA but that was for a raw material spillage.

Hi Jane

I have worked in labs where this was a consideration, due either to high pressure gas supplies or to cryogenics such as liquid nitrogen.

We had the benefit of a lot of chemical engineers who, as part of a HAZOP process, were able to do ventilation calcs and tell us whether an asphyxiating environment was credible. The result was that in one of the labs, which housed a large dewar of liquid nitrogen, we had oxygen sensors which would alarm inside and outside the lab at a level long before a person would be incapacitated. Personal oxygen sensors were required for some transient work in other locations.

Rescue sets are widely used (well, made available at least) on larger plant where there is the potential to have to travel a long distance through a cloud of released material, but I've never seen them put to use in a lab environment where it is much easier to design out the risk. Although they're a bit more foolproof, users still have to be competent and confident, just as they do for BA.

We did have BA and were competent in its use but that was more for potential toxic releases from plant in ventilated enclosures. In any case, unless you have a team who are trained, confident and well practiced specifically for a rescue situation, you absolutely should not be counting on them to rescue a person from an asphyxiant environment.

Further to the use of BA kits in a lab setting, in a previous life we had labs where they carried out fumigation experiments in controlled chambers. If there was a leak of fumigant you would need some sort of self-rescue kit. Users had to be trained and have the confidence to use these kits.  But these were toxic gases and fumes we were dealing with, not just depleted oxygen levels.  In the case of Dewars  and the  like  the best solution is not to keep them in poorly ventilated rooms. Unfortunately, what tends to happen is that the Dewars often end up in the smallest, pokiest room which nobody else wants!