Safety Tip of the Week – Defining Confined Spaces

Many workplaces contain spaces that are “confined” because their configurations hinder the activities of entry into, working in, or exit from them.

In many instances, those who work in confined spaces also face increased risk of exposure to serious physical injury from hazards such as entrapment, engulfment, and hazardous atmospheric conditions.

Many times you may find yourselves in a space that you may not realize is considered a confined space!

REMEMBER, A confined space is defined by OSHA as a space that meets the following three criteria:

• Is large enough and configured such that an employee can bodily enter and perform work; and
• Has limited means of entry (access) and exit (egress), which means you need to use your hands or contort your body to enter the space; and
• Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.

All confined spaces are considered permit-required until they can be declassified as a confined space (until it can be shown that, through engineering, the hazards are no longer present).

Removing all hazards can reclassify a permit-required confined space to a non-permit required confined space.

REMEMBER to consider the definition of “confined space” and realize it can develop in to a “permit required confined space” which can require much more to just enter!

CONFINED SPACES CAN BE MORE DANGEROUS THAN YOU MIGHT REALIZE!