Confined spaces Hazards.
.Part-01
Confined
spaces are dangerous because:
they can appear deceptively harmless, gases & vapors may not
be seen or smelled, and it takes only once for something to go
wrong.
- Definitions.
What is a Confined Space?
- It is large enough, and configured for, a person to enter and perform work,
- It has a restricted means for entry or exit, and
- It is not designed for continuous human occupancy.
Confined spaces can be:
below & above ground:
- In nearly all industries & workplaces; and
- In both small & large
Underground
vaults:
- Truck or rail tank cars,
- Aircrae wings,
- Storage bins, pits, dikes, and
- Vessels, silos, vats.
What is a Permit-required Confined Space?
It will have one or more of four characteristics,
1. Contains, or has the potential to contain, a hazardous atmosphere.
Examples include storage tanks, reaction vessels, sewers, trenches or
excavations with chemical liquids, vapors, or gases.
2. Contains
a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant.
Examples:
A grain silo, trench, or excavation with sloughing walls.
3. Has an
internal configuration that could potentially trap or asphyxiate an entrant.
Example:
storage tanks with inward sloping walls.
4. contains
any other serious safety or health hazards.
What is an “Entry permit”?
A tool for
safety
Entry permit (permit) means the written or printed document that is provided by the
employer who designated the space a permit space to allow and control entry into
a permit space and that contains the information specified in §1926.1206 of this
standard.
A checklist
that identifies:
- The hazards associated with the space.
- The steps taken to reduce these hazards.
Confined Spaces Entry (CSE) Permit.
Lists hazards in the confined space
- Instructs how to control each hazard
- Establishes conditions for safe entry
- Establishes rescue procedures
- Lists hazards in the confined space
- Instructs how to control each hazard
- Establishes conditions for safe entry
- Establishes rescue procedures
Specific Elements of a CS Entry Permit.
The permit
identifies:
- Confined space to be entered,
- Hazards,
- Preparation,
- Required equipment for entry and work,
- Authorized entrants, attendants, rescue services, and
- Testing requirements/authorizations.
- Entry.
Entry means the action by which any part of a person passes through an opening
into a permit required confined space. Entry includes ensuing work activities in
that space and is considered to have occurred as soon as any part of the entrant’s
body breaks the plane of an opening into the space, whether or not such action is
intentional, or any work activities are actually performed in the space.
- Competent Person.
Competent person means one who can identify existing and predictable hazards in
the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or
dangerous to employees, and who has the authorization to take prompt corrective
measures to eliminate them.
- Qualified Person.
Qualified person means one who, by possession of a recognized degree,
certificate, or professional standing, or who by extensive knowledge, training, and
experience, has successfully demonstrated his ability to solve or resolve problems
relating
to the subject matter, the work, or the project.
- Authorized Entrant and Attendant.
Authorized entrant means an employee who is authorized by the entry supervisor
to enter a permit space.
Attendant means an individual stationed outside one or more permit spaces who
assesses the status of authorized entrants and who must perform the duties
specified in §1926.1209.
- General Requirements.
-Before Work Begins.
Before it begins work at a worksite, each employer must ensure that a competent
person identifies all confined spaces in which one or more of the employees it
directs may work, and identifies each space that is a permit space, through
consideration and evaluation of the elements of that space, including testing, as
necessary.
- Inform.
If the workplace contains one or more permit spaces, the
employer must:
1. Inform exposed employees by posting danger signs or by any other equally
effective means, of the existence and location of, and the danger posed by, each
permit space; and
2. Inform, in a timely manner and in a manner other than posting, its employees’
authorized representatives and the controlling contractor of the existence and
location of, and the danger posed by, each permit space.
- Prevent Entry.
Each employer who identifies, or receives notice of, a permit space and has not
authorized employees it directs to work in that space must take effective
measures to prevent those employees from entering that permit space, in addition
to complying with all other applicable requirements of this standard.
- Written Program.
If any employer decides that employees it directs will enter a permit space, that
employer must have a written permit space program that complies with
§1926.1204 implemented at the construction site. The written program must be
made available prior to and during entry operations for inspection by employees
and their authorized representatives.
- Entry into Permit Spaces.
The following requirements apply to entry into permit spaces that meet the
conditions set
forth in paragraph §1926.1203(e)(1):
Any conditions making it unsafe to remove an entrance cover must be eliminated
before the
cover is removed.
When entrance covers are removed, the opening must be immediately guarded by
a railing, temporary cover, or other temporary barrier that will prevent an
accidental fall through the opening and that will protect each employee working in
the space from foreign objects entering the space.
Before an employee enters the space, the internal atmosphere must be tested,
with a calibrated direct-reading instrument, for oxygen content, for flammable
gases and vapors, and for potential toxic air contaminants, in that order. Any
employee who enters the space, or that employee’s authorized representative,
must be provided an opportunity to observe the pre-entry testing required by this
paragraph.
No hazardous atmosphere is permitted within the space whenever any employee
is inside the space.
Additional conditions necessary for entry into permit
spaces.
Forced air ventilation must be used,
The atmosphere within the space must be monitored.
Procedures to take if a hazard is detected during entry:
The employer must ensure a safe method of entering and existing
the space.
The employer must verify that the space is safe for entry and that the pre-entry
measures have been taken, through a written certification.