Thank you for asking! Let’s start with some basics…
According to OSHA 1910.146 the definition of a confined space is as follows:
- Is large enough for an employee to enter fully and perform assigned work;
- Is not designed for continuous occupancy by the employee; and
- Has a limited or restricted means of entry or exit.
These spaces may include underground vaults, tanks, storage bins, pits and diked areas, vessels, silos and other similar areas.
By definition, a permit-required confined spacehas one or more of these characteristics:
- Contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere;
- Contains a material with the potential to engulf someone who enters the space;
- Has an internal configuration that might cause an entrant to be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor that slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross section; and/or
- Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazards.
Why care about Confined Space?
As an Owner, Safety Manager, Safety Coordinator, Site Manager or other related title, you must have knowledge and understanding of the serious risks for your employees that work in confined spaces. It is imperative that written procedures to protect your employees, contract workers and representatives from entering permit spaces must be developed and made available to all parties. To help you evaluate your workplace to determine if spaces are permit spaces, this Decision Flow Chart is a useful tool. If it is, the employer must inform exposed employees of their existence, hazards they pose and location. Effective measures must be taken to prevent employees from entering permit spaces if they are not allowed. You must be prepared to deal with increased risk of exposure engulfment, entrapment and hazardous atmospheric conditions. These issues would not normally come up in an open workplace/setting. For further info, you can review the OSHA Permit Required Confined Spaces article .