Manholes are brutal environments that can quickly translate a callous attitude, lack of emergency response protocols and the absence of basic safety equipment to death. Contractors have been known to cut costs and to try to get the ‘job’ of cleaning them done quickly, and not equip workers with ventilators, gas concentration detectors, gloves, face masks and hard hats (as well as not keep a person on standby on the outside to help in case of an emergency). As a result, the workers are left exposed to three dangerous environments conspiring together: chemical, biological and legal.
If workers are made to
