Knowing the former director of engineering for Foss and having worked on structures built on enclosed steel barges, I have a high degree of puzzlement that any employee at Foss would ever think enter a confined space unprotected and unsupported like that and without using a detector before entering. That's just against basic training and certainly against all protocols. You just don't do that.I'd tell my people to use their touch, eyes, ears, nose and taste - nose and taste because of industrial fuel and gas and fumes, can displace oxygen, creating an oxygen depleted environment, as they learned in Confined Spaces: Entry and Egress, requiring testing and monitoring the safe oxygen levels. Some but not all smells, can be tasted and smelt.
Then I'd tell them never ever to ignore their sixth sense, when they feel something weird or dangerous is about to happen, then remove the restrictions that could be impairing their senses and look about to see what setting off the bells and alarms in their sixth sense. Hearing when ones vision is obscured, can tell one a lot about what's happening around them, don't ignore those weird sounds or feelings. Security is a state of mind and your bodyguard is your mind. If one fails to grasp this simple and fundamental rule, one can quickly find oneself the victim.
Foss Launch & Tug Company ("Foss"), owner of 202, delivered 202 to Todd's floating drydock on for routine service, the annual inspection required by law and such repairs as were indicated by the inspection. 202 was out of the water on blocks in Todd's drydock. At approximately 7:45 p. m. Stanley Olsen, in the course of his aforementioned inspection duties, entered tank A421f and collapsed due to its oxygen-deficient atmosphere. Robert Olsen and Allen Uglem, who had been working nearby, then entered the tank to effect a rescue. They too collapsed. Allen Uglem did not recover; Robert and Stanley Olsen did. This was a classic "confined space incident' where the oxygen levels weren't tested for a safe working environment.
It's also odd that it happened at 7:45 pm. Weird story.