CONFINED SPACE AWARENESS

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CONFINED SPACE AWARENESS
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DEFINITION OF CONFINED SPACE

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

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TYPES OF CONFINED SPACES

• Sewers
• Railroads
• Vaults and pits
• Vessels, silos, storage bins
• Hoppers, pipelines

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REASONS FOR ENTERING A CONFINED SAPCE

• Cleaning
• Inspections
• Maintenance
• Training
• Rescue

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CONFINED SPACE HAZARDS

• Hazardous atmospheres
• Oxygen deficient
• Combustible.flammable atmospheres
• Toxic gases
• Combustible dusts
• Electrical and other energy sources
• Mechanical
• Engulfment
• Poor lighting
• Poor footing
• Biological and health hazards
• Improper training

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CONFINED SPACE INCIDENTS

• Highest death rates in any type of rescue
  operations 60 of rescuers die in attempted
  rescues

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CONFINED SPACE STANDARD

• 29 CFR 1910.146

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CONFINED SPACE PERMITS

• Contains requirements for practices and
  procedures to protect employees from the hazards
  of entry into permit required confined spaces
• Required in all types of industry, EXCEPT
  agriculture, construction, and shipyards

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TYPES OF PERMIT CONFINED SPACES

• Permit Required Confined Space
• A confined space that has one or more of the
  following conditions
• Contains or has the potential to contain a
  hazardous atmosphere
• Contains a material that has the potential for
  engulfing an entrant
• Has an internal configuration such that the
  entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by
  inwardly converging walls or a floor which slopes
  and tapers to a smaller cross section
• Contains other serious recognizable hazards

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TYPES OF PERMIT CONFINED SPACES

• Non-Permit Confined Space
• A space that does not contain or with respect to
  atmospheric hazards, have the potential to
  contain any hazard capable of causing serious
  physical harm or death

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ALTERNATE ENTRY PROCEDURES

• The employer must demonstrate the following
• The only hazard posed is actual or potential
  hazardous atmosphere
• Demonstrates the continuous ventilation is
  sufficient to maintain a safe permit space
• Must show data that supports the above
  demonstrations
• Data must be documented and be made available to
  the entrants

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ALTERNATE ENTRY PROCEDURES

• If alternate entries are allowed
• No formal program is needed
• No permit or permit system is needed
• No attendant or supervisor is needed
• No rescue provisions
• TRAINING IS REQUIRED!

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CONFINED SPACE DEFINITIONS

• Qualified Person
• A person designated by the Employer in writing,
  as being trained in the area of confined space
• Attendant
• A trained person who is stationed outside the
  confined space who monitors authorized entrants
  working in the confined space
• Authorized Entrant
• Person doing the work inside the confined space
• Entry supervisor
• Person who verifies that all requirements for
  entry have been met and oversee the operations

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CONFINED SPACE HAZARDS

• Hazardous Atmospheres
• Oxygen Deficient
• Below 19.5
• Oxygen enriched
• Above 23.5
• Flammability
• 10 of the lower flammability range
• Other Toxic gases
• Carbon monoxide 35 ppm
• Sulfur Dioxide 10 ppm

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WAYS TO REMOVED THE HAZARDS

• Ventilation
• The planned and systematic release and removal of
  gases and replacement of these gases with fresh
  air
• Inerting
• Displacement of the atmosphere in a permit space
  by a non-combustible gas (such as nitrogen) Note-
  This procedure does create an oxygen deficient
  atmosphere
• Isolation
• The process by which a permit required confined
  space is removed from service and completely
  protected against the energy and/or material into
  the confined space by blanking and bleeding,
  lock-out tag out Double bleed and block

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CONFINED SPACE PERMITS

• Shall be issued for all required entry spaces and
  shall be posted at the entry point to the
  confined space
• The entry shall not exceed the time durations it
  is issued for.

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MONITORING OF CONFINED SPACES

• Order of significance
• Oxygen
• LEL
• Toxic Gases
• Monitors shall be four gas
• Oxygen levels
• Carbon monoxide levels
• Hydrogen sulfide levels
• Lower explosive limits
• Monitoring should be conducted
• At the portal
• Lowering into the space, allow 1 second per foot
  to ensure proper levels are read.
• Always use two monitors

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CONFINED SPACE RESCUES

• Personal Safety Equipment
• SCBA and Supplied Air Units
• Full body harness and retrieval system
• Tools
• Electrical equipment

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CONFINED SPACE RESCUE EQUIPMENT

• Personal equipment
• Hard hats
• Boots
• Eye Protection
• Hearing protection
• Splash protection
• In the case of flammable atmospheres, bunker gear
  is appropriate

• SCBA and Supplied Air Units
• SCBA is appropriate, however cannot be removed to
  gain entry into the space
• Supplies air systems cannot exceed 300 ft.
• Supplied air systems require minimum of a 10
  minute escape packs

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CONFINED SPACE RESCUE EQUIPMENT Cont.

• Retrieval System/Fall protection Required in
  any spaces deeper than 5 feet.
• Tri-Pod
• Retrieval system
• Life line
• Life line retrieval system

• Miscellaneous Equipment
• Electrical equipment
• Needs to be grounded
• Low voltage
• Tools
• Non-sparking
• Air driven (Intrinsically safe)

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IDENTIFICATION AND COMMUNICATION IN THE CONFINED
SPACE

• Methods of communication
• Radios
• Difficult to use underground, wont turn corners
• Life Line
• OATH
• OK 1 Pull
• Advance 2 Pulls
• Take Up 3 Pulls
• Help 4 or more pulls
• Hand signals

• Identification Systems
• Accountability System
• Name of the attendant
• Name and Number of entrants
• Time in and out of the Space
• Time on and off air

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CONFINED SPACE RECORD KEPPING

• Records of training must be maintained
• Permits must be maintained
• Incident records must be maintained
• Medical surveillance (Meeting OSHA Standards
• Equipment maintenance records
• Records must be kept for a minimum of one year
• Exposure records must be kept for 40 years or 30
  years after employment termination

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CONFINED SPACE INITIAL OPERATIONS

• Activate response plan
• Activate the incident command system
• Prevent unauthorized personnel from entering the
  sight
• Set-up control zones, as in Haz-Mat

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PERMIT REQUIRED CONFINED SPACE ENTRY AND RESCUE

• Prepare permit or SOP
• Check for hazards
• Monitor air quality (continuously)
• Ventilate
• Tri-pod set up
• Retrieval system
• Full body harnesses
• Lighting
• Communication
• Pot Permits
• Make entry and conduct the rescue or exercise
• Cancel and file permits