23 Sep Emphasis on Confined Space

Emphasis on Confined Space Safety

Confined spaces can be deadly. Workers may be overcome by hazardous gases, vapors, or fumes; engulfed by materials; exposed to mechanical or electrical hazards; or trapped without an adequate means of escape. Confined-space emergencies can also place would-be rescuers in extreme danger. Never enter a confined space to attempt a rescue unless you are trained, equipped, and authorized to do so.

What Is a Confined Space?

A confined space is a space that:

• Is large enough and configured so an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work;
• Has limited or restricted means of entry or exit; and
• Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.

Examples may include tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, pits, manholes, boilers, sewers, utility tunnels, pipelines, sumps, wet wells, and similar spaces.

A permit-required confined space is a confined space that contains, or has the potential to contain, one or more serious hazards, including:

• A hazardous atmosphere;
• Material capable of engulfing an entrant;
• An internal configuration that could trap or asphyxiate an entrant, such as inwardly converging walls or a floor that slopes downward to a smaller cross-section; or
• Any other recognized serious safety or health hazard.

Before Entry

Confined spaces must be identified and evaluated before employees enter them. Never assume a space is safe simply because someone has entered it before without incident.

Before permit-required confined-space entry:

• Identify the hazards associated with the space and the work to be performed.
• Isolate the space from hazardous energy using appropriate lockout/tagout procedures.
• Blank, blind, disconnect, or otherwise isolate lines that could introduce hazardous materials or energy.
• Protect against engulfment, flooding, mechanical movement, electrical hazards, and other recognized hazards.
• Test the atmosphere with properly calibrated equipment.
• Provide ventilation when necessary.
• Establish safe entry and exit procedures.
• Provide required PPE and entry equipment.
• Complete and authorize the required entry permit.
• Establish communications between entrants and the attendant.
• Ensure appropriate rescue procedures and equipment are in place before entry begins.

Atmospheric Testing

A hazardous atmosphere may exist even when nothing unusual can be seen or smelled. Never rely on your senses to determine whether a confined space is safe.

Atmospheric testing should generally be performed in this order:

1. Oxygen content
2. Flammable gases and vapors
3. Potential toxic contaminants

Atmospheric conditions must be monitored as required throughout the entry to ensure acceptable conditions are maintained.

If a prohibited condition develops, entrants must exit the space immediately.

The Attendant

An attendant must remain outside the permit space during entry and perform assigned duties without distractions that could interfere with monitoring the entrants.

The attendant should:

• Maintain an accurate count of authorized entrants.
• Remain in communication with entrants.
• Monitor conditions inside and outside the space.
• Recognize signs and symptoms of exposure.
• Order evacuation when unsafe conditions develop.
• Prevent unauthorized persons from entering.
• Summon rescue and emergency services when necessary.

An attendant must never enter the space to perform a rescue unless specifically trained, equipped, authorized, and relieved of attendant duties as required by the rescue procedure.

Rescue Planning

A confined-space emergency is not the time to develop a rescue plan.

Before entry, determine:

• How an entrant will be rescued;
• What rescue equipment will be required;
• Who will perform the rescue;
• How rescuers will be summoned; and
• Whether the rescue service can respond within a timeframe appropriate for the hazards involved.

When feasible, non-entry rescue should be used. Retrieval systems, such as a full-body harness, retrieval line, and mechanical retrieval device, should be provided when required and when their use would not increase the overall risk.

Do not assume that calling 911 by itself constitutes an adequate confined-space rescue plan. The designated rescue service must be evaluated to ensure it is capable of responding appropriately to the specific confined-space hazards.

Training Is Essential

Employees involved in confined-space work must understand their duties before entry begins. This includes authorized entrants, attendants, entry supervisors, and designated rescue personnel.

Training should address:

• Confined-space hazards;
• Entry permit requirements;
• Atmospheric testing and monitoring;
• Ventilation and hazard controls;
• PPE and equipment;
• Communication procedures;
• Entrant, attendant, and entry supervisor responsibilities;
• Emergency evacuation; and
• Rescue procedures.

Remember

No confined-space job is so urgent that entry should begin without proper evaluation, isolation, testing, equipment, communication, and rescue planning.

Never enter a permit-required confined space unless you are trained, authorized, and following the established entry procedure. Never attempt an unplanned rescue—one confined-space victim can quickly become two.