A recent article in the Omaha World Herald highlights the need for carbon monoxide safety. After a couple died in the their home when they forgot to press the automatic start button in their car, the daughter of these two is working with local legislators to introduce a bill that would require all car manufacturers to include the automatic shut off feature in all new cars. In this instance, the elderly couple’s family thought that the two were on a 13 day vacation cruise, only to find out that the parents had been dead in the house for days after dangerous carbon monoxide filled the home.

In their 80s and celebrating yet another travel adventure, the couple led an active life, but one small mistake created a devastating error that cost them their lives. A recent report from the resource for automotive information Edmunds, indicated that keyless ignition vehicles have risen dramatically in popularity. In 2008, for instance, these devices represented 11% of cars sold in the U.S. Last year, however, that number increased to 62%.

As their daughter works to make this one time mistake from happening to other families, her approach is to require cars with these automatic features would shut off after a designated amount of idling time. As at least one indication that this is a feature that really does have its place, Toyota has implemented this change in their 2020 releases.

If these carbon monoxide changes can help in residential and individual cases, imagine the necessary regulations when it comes to chimneys and industrial stack inspections. As both a safety feature for those working inside and an environmental control for the entire community, industrial stack inspections play important role in many businesses.

Industrial Chimney Repair and Smoke Stack Inspection Play Key Environmental Protection Roles

While home owners need to be concerned about carbon monoxide issues, there are many commercial and industrial properties that need to be concerned and aware of the recommendations provided by professional industrial stack inspections. In a time when consumers are demanding more and more production from the factories of the nation, it is important to realize that there are many safety features in place to make sure that these increases in production do not increase the hazards that workers are subjected to.

Consider some of these facts and figures about the many ways that federal industrial stack inspections requirements help make workplaces and entire communities safer places:

• All new smoke stacks should be accessed and inspected 12 months after entering service to ensure anticipated performance under load.
• In addition, binocular inspections of smoke stacks should occur once a year. Full height interior and exterior hands on inspections, in comparison, should be completed once every three years.
• A smokestack built in 1974, Kennecott smelter is by far the tallest man made structure in Utah at 1,215 feet tall and 177 feet across.
• Many smoke stack regulations fall under the The 2001 Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Confined Spaces Regulations, which seek to cover all work in relation to confined spaces.
• The latest research indicates that atmospheric oxygen concentration levels below 19.5% or above 23.5% are dangerous or even fatal.
• There has been an increase in U.S. smokestacks taller than 500 feet in the last four years, according to studies from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Government Accountability Office.
• Because of their height, smoke stacks must be lit so they will be visible to planes. Since the exhaust can cover the lights, the lights must be 5 to ten feet below the top of the smoke stack. In addition, owners can also floodlight the smoke stacks with fixed searchlight projectors.
• With the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to assure healthful and safe working conditions for men and women by setting and enforcing standards, as well as providing training, outreach, education and assistance.
• As a result of smoke stack inspections and other safety regulations, there was an 80% reduction in workplace fatalities between years 1971 and 2015.

Chemical emissions are a danger to residents, workers, and the environment. As a result the safety measures that are in place range from the work of a midwestern woman and her state representative to regulate automatic starts on cars to national regulations about smoke stacks and chimneys.