Maintenance Airframe; Maintenance Powerplant
Time Pressure; Training / Qualification
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Maintenance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General Work Refused
Company Policy; Human Factors; Equipment / Tooling
Aircraft X was in the hangar and in work for a fuel leak. First and second shift had removed the underwing fuel panels to begin the tank ventilation process. When I got there for my shift the panels where removed and a fan had been set up to help remove the fuel vapors from the tank. I was the lead mechanic who was assigned to the plane for the shift. I proceeded to check the AMM (Aircraft Maintenance Manual) reference for fuel tank repairs and found that it calls for an oxygen fed respirator while performing repairs in the fuel tanks if the oxygen levels are between 19.5% and 23.5%. When I informed the supervisor of this; he picked from stores a non-calibrated oxygen level meter and found the oxygen level in the tank to be at 20.9%. The Supervisor on duty for the night told me I needed to have one of the mechanics get in the tank and begin drying out the tank so we could begin repairs. He gave me a common paint respirator with disposable charcoal filters and told me it would be suitable for use in the fuel tank. I then showed the Supervisor the AMM (Aircraft Maintenance Manual) reference and told him that the paint respirator he had given me was not the right one for work inside fuel tanks and told him that unless he was able to acquire an oxygen fed respirator like the AMM calls for that I was not going to have any of the mechanics work inside the fuel tank as it is not a safe environment. The Supervisor continued to tell me that I needed to put someone in the tank with only the paint respirator and when I told him that due to safety and health concerns I would not let anyone go inside the fuel tanks without the proper breathing equipment as called out by the AMM; he proceeded to tell me to go home. We need the proper PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and safety equipment per the AMM if we are doing any work inside of a fuel tank.
Aircraft Technician working on EMB-145LR was not provided correct safety equipment for fuel tank entry.