The author is an expert in Portable Oxygen Concentrator.

Oxygen deficiency is an important factor in the cause of heart failures and strokes. These medical conditions frequently occur in many scenarios where oxygen does not reach the cells and tissues of heart or brain. Even in a small scale, oxygen deficiency can cause nausea, breathing trouble, irrational behavior and emotional imbalances, fatigue and weakness etc. While heart and brain activity stops when the oxygen concentration falls below 5%, the nausea and fatigue are caused when oxygen concentration decreases even 2-5% from the normally required amount of 20%.

Oxygen deficiency normally occurs at high altitudes, confined spaces, especially those without proper air circulation. Today, many industries and workplaces pose many a possible risky scenarios and locations where oxygen deficiency can occur easily and within a short period of time. Though the industries and factories may be built over a large area and most probably overlooking an open area or water body, there are many nooks and corners in each of those industries. More than a few of those areas will require employees and laborers to visit them or stay inside them for prolonged periods to perform tasks.

Confined spaces that have no proper means for the entry or exit of individuals and those which do not have proper means for ventilation of air that is circulating inside are prime locations for oxygen deficiency to occur. Some commonly encountered confined spaces are manholes and sewer lines, silos, vats, reactors, vessels and boilers. When an individual enters a confined space with improper ventilation and no avenue for air circulation, the oxygen levels in the air are depleted very soon, since the individual’s respiration continues to occur. However, the individual will immediately feel the effects of depleted oxygen concentrations as soon as it drops below the normal level. Some times, a Portable Oxygen Concentrator can be used to correct this situation.

Another scenario or location for the prevalence of oxygen deficiency is near exhausts, especially those of toxic gases. Industrial exhausts, apart from polluting the environment, contain many gases that will easily displace the oxygen in the air. When a large volume of exhaust or toxic gases are suddenly released in an area with workers inside or if individual workers enter an area that is filled with exhausts, it can result in immediate oxygen deficiency if not dispensed with soon and the people evacuated. To avoid such incidents, it is essential to strictly adhere to the guidelines issued by federal agencies like OSHA and NIOSH.