Confined space safety

Plant safety programs should be designed to preclude those conditions which are known to result in worker injury. Plantwide safety programs include guides, rules, procedures, and policies for a plantwide spectrum of concerns usually including vehicle safety, environmental concerns, substance abuse, confined space safety, and so forth. A key portion of all of these programs include fabrication shop safety. 

Complexities confuse construction site confined space safety... 

General industry and the construction industry have a lot in common when it comes to confined space hazards the potential for fire, explosion, chemical exposure and oxygen enrichment or deficiency. In spite of the commonalities, there are significant differences between the two, says Edward J. Willwerth, an NFPA-certified marine chemist who has taught confined space safety courses for the U.S. military, shipyards, petroleum terminals, chemical manufacturers and industrial facilities. 

Confined Space Safety Fall Arrest and Retrieval Ventilation Gas Detection Portable Heating/AC Tents and Shelters Splicing Vehicles... 

DISPOSABLE PPE 64 CONFINED SPACE SAFETY PRODUCT NEWS... 

Confined space safety should be considered at tank farms, fuel storage areas, manholes, transformer vaults, confined electrical spaces, race-ways. 

Confined Space Enty Program, 29 CFR 1910.146, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Adrninistration, Jan. 14, 1993. 

Dow Chemical Company Safety Standard on Confined-Space Entry states the following regarding confined space entiy. 

Strict compliance with all instructions on the permit, e.g. the wearing of breathing apparatus and other safety equipment if a safety belt or harness is used, it must be attached to a lifeline, the free end of which is held by a person outside the confined space... 

Rescue of any person from a confined space where dangerous fumes, or an oxygen-deficient atmosphere, may be present is prohibited without wearing appropriate safety equipment... 

Not all existing procedures or program elements of the overall health and safety program need to be incorporated into the HASP. For example, if noise is a hazard, the plan does not have to cite the entire hearing conservation program. Procedures already established elsewhere may be referenced, as applicable. In another example, if a confined-space-entry procedure is required, the HASP could reference the particular procedure which is part of the overall program. The next step would be to identify confined spaces at the worksite where the procedure applies, and then provide appropriate implementation procedures (e.g., conditions to be monitored, evaluation of the space, issuance of an entry permit). If special operational procedures apply to the worksite, they can be attached to the HASP using an appendix. 

F. All site control elements of the safety and health program must be fully implemented as described in the program. The purpose of site control requirements is to ensure that only properly trained and authorized individuals enter those areas of the site with potential hazards, and that, in the event of an emergency, rapid assistance can be rendered to employees working in the exclusion zone. This section discusses the findings of two components of site control the establishment and maintenance of site work zones and the establishment and implementation of appropriate confined space procedures. 

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Recommendation Z117.1-1989, Safety Requirements of Confined Spaces. ... 

Permit space As defined by OSHA, a confined space that contains a hazardous atmosphere, a material that could engulf an occupant, a configuration that could trap an occupant, or any other recognized safety or health hazard. 

Elsworth, J., J. Eyre, and D. Wayne. 1983. Combustion of refrigerated liquefied propane in partially confined spaces, Int. Sym. Loss Prevention and Safety Promotion in the Process Industries. Harrogate (UK), IChemE Symp. Series No. 81. pp. C35-C48. 

Some plant and equipment are immediately classified as confined spaces, but extreme caution is necessary in the assessment of other areas. Section 2 of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 requires employers to ensure the health and safety at work of their employees this duty is so far as is reasonably practicable. Therefore, as work in confined spaces is potentially dangerous this Section of the Act clearly requires employers to ensure that there is no risk to their employees when working in such an area. 

Where such internal inspection work is carried, out a safety checklist and processes for confined space entry permit system and tag-out/lock-out MUST be undertaken before any person enters the boiler. The inspection of waterside surfaces should be carried out by a suitable qualified person and will benefit from employing either an instant camera or a video camera (Horoscope or similar fiberoptic-based device) to record any parts of the boiler where corrective action is needed. 

NOTE Sampling steam and condensate lines in large process plants such as smelters, pulp and paper plants, steel mills, and the like is potentially dangerous. Site rules must be followed and the use of proper safety equipment employed (safety equipment includes helmet, gloves, goggles, and occasionally a respirator). Under certain operating conditions, confined space permits and tag-out or lock-out rules may be necessary and a minimum of two persons required before work begins. 

All confined space entry permits procedures and other safety regulations must be followed. 

Entry into confined spaces where there is likely to be a danger from toxic or flammable gases, or oxygen deficiency or enrichment (Table 11.12). Such work requires well rehearsed procedures regulated by a permit. Figure 11.3 identifies the procedures for entry into confined spaces and Table 11.13 lists associated safety requirements with a specimen permit (Figure 11.4). 

LEL is the most important of the two limits. It is mostly useful when inflammable substances are handled in confined spaces (reservoirs, painting cabins, ovens etc). Detaiis of limits of inflammability are kept by chemical substance manufacturers who are required to mention them on safety sheets that have to be put at clients disposal. When compared with the equilibrium concentration determined as indicated before, LEL aiiows determination of whether a working environment presents a risk of explosion in the presence of a source of ignition. 

NIOSH. 1985a. Fatal accident circumstances and epidemiology (FACE) report Two sanitation employees die in confined space in Kentucky, August 24, 1985. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Safety Research, Morgantown, WV. Report no. FACE-85-44. NTIS publication no. PB91-197848. 

Injuries and fatalities from asphyxiation are often associated with personnel entry into inerted equipment or enclosures. Guidance on safe procedures for confined space access are provided by OSHA (OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.146, Confined Space Entry Standard, 2000), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI, Z117.1, Safety Requirements for Confined Spaces, 2003), Hodson (Hodson, Safe Entry into Confined Spaces, Handbook of Chemical Health and Safety, American Chemical Society, 2001), and BP (BP, Hazards of Nitrogen and Catalyst Handling, 2003). OSHA has established 19.5 vol % as the minimum safe oxygen concentration for confined space entry without supplemental oxygen supply (see Table 23-18). Note that OSHA imposes a safe upper limit on 02 concentration of 23.5 vol % to protect against the enhanced flammability hazards associated with 02-enriched atmospheres. 

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