Confined Spaces Hazards. Part-01.
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Confined Spaces Hazards. Part-01.

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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.


















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