Posted on Facebook today by a fellow inspector, and he gave me permission to share with you all…
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Could not have been a good feeling.
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When a person panics or is stressed as in this case, the body can actually swell making it harder to get through a tight opening.
Back in the day when I was in the aerospace industry crawling through some really tight spaces in fuel tanks in the wings, we were taught that if you were to get stuck, not to panic, but instead try to relax to prevent swelling.
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My body, at 64, is swollen enough that I would have laughed at that opening and waddled away…with pictures of course.
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I was in a similar situation once in an attic with too small a hatch. I gotta tell ya, just reading the post make me start sukking for air as if I was there all over again. Definately NOT a good feeling! To this day when I go in for a CT scan or MRI, I get all claustrophobic like!!
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That’s interesting. I haven’t considered it before, but it makes sense.
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Anyone who may end up working in a confined space should take a course in confined space safety and be certified.
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An inspector friend of mine went through a trench a contractor had dug under a wall to reach the next area of the crawlspace. Going down under it, back bent backwards was doable.
But he couldn’t get out of the other side. So he backed up. Got stuck under that thing. Had to take time a calm down so his body would relax.
He was alone….
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10 years ago it did not bother me. Full PPE and relaxed.
Now I am older I do not consider entering confined spaces. Not agile anymore.
Hi zoom camera and good lighting does the trick.
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The conditions that are passed off as “crawl spaces” are often totally ridiculous. I suppose it’s gotten marginally better over the years but people actually getting through the spaces is often on no one’s radar. My pet peeve is the old spaces with rigid heat ducts and VERY minimal clearance originally. Then some do-gooder energy efficiency dickhead comes through and packs insulation everywhere. I’ve often told people the one thing I can guarantee is the guy installing the insulation was the last person in the space. What really pisses me off is that people just get all butt-hurt that I can’t get into the space. It’s as though they think I can just move my body through physical matter.
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In Ohio for licensed WDI inspections, 18" by 18" is considered accessible by law. There are many inspectors that I have seen, will not fit through an 18x18 access.
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