Thief Hatch... will it kill you in the end ?

Is this problem common in chemical hauling?

 

I've had my hard hat blown off a few times. Once the fumes got me pretty bad, really light headed, headache. I felt really out of it couldn't walk straight managed myself down the stairs. Really made me think twice about gauging tanks. Now most of our locations we go to all have automation and are roped off with signs requiring resperators.

 

there is no reason anyone should have to open a thief hatch
two haulers died in the DJ in 13-14 not due to H2s it was because the gas filled their lungs displacing the oxygen so basically they drowned in them
if you must open a hatch if you can isolate the tank from the rest of the battery that cuts down the volume to only what is in that one tank
will it harm you after 25 yrs of doing this I can tell you there are effects my sense of smell is about nill and my lung capacity is diminished

 

Military training paid off. I treated it as if I encountered an NBC attack. I closed my eyes, stopped breathing, turned away upwind and bent over the rail to get as far away as my arm would allow, and released the latch.

99% of the time, that resulted in the hatch blowing open with enough force that it would slam back shut and relatch, causing me to do it again.

I mainly hauled FB and fresh production sites that didn't have pump jacks running yet for Hess. Too much volume to get through the on-site LACTs to pipeline, and very gassy. I would usually have 5-10 psi in my tank by the time I got to the LACT terminal to offload.

 

Had a hatch blow open in my face one time. Very stupid mistake on my part. I absolutely hated with a passion opening hatches....
And on several occasions I requested apparatus to prevent inhalation and all requests were denied.
Not to mention any time any strong h2s on site you're f.....g TOAST, It didn't matter if your clip on h2s sensor worked, it was a matter of how soon did you get out of there.
I'd rather stick with water and production.