Permit required confined space

The contractors SSAHPs at Sites B, F, and K had general confined space provisions but lacked site-specific confined space procedures. For example, SSAHPs for the Site K contractor and subcontractor had written confined space entry programs, but the programs did not establish site-specific rescue procedures or identify the confined space hazards present on the site. The job hazard analyses for both programs failed to address site maintenance tasks that could involve confined space entry and hot work hazards. The programs also failed to identify the specific person or position responsible for supervising confined space entry procedures and the location of permit-required confined spaces on site. Interviews with both contractors indicated confusion about rescue procedures. 

Similarly, the Site B contractor s SSAHP provided corporate policy and procedures for permit-required confined space entry but lacked the site-specific detail necessary to describe the application of the corporate policy to procedures at the site. For example, the SSAHP did not identify specific components of the thermal treatment unit that presented confined space hazards, nor did it describe the specific circumstances or procedures that would require employee entry into these areas. In addition, the plan stated that the contractor would maintain an onsite employee confined space rescue team, but did not identify the members of this team. The SSAHP for Site F also contained a generic confined space entry program but did not identify the specific location of confined space hazards present at the site. 

Contractors at Sites E, H, and J had documented confined space programs but had not fully implemented these programs. The Site H contractor had established a permit-required confined space entry program consistent with HAZWOPER requirements however, onsite procedures were not completely consistent with the written program or OSHA requirements. For example, the confined space permit form used at Site H was not the form included in the written program. The audit team also found evidence that employee training was insufficient for safe... 

Finally, PMCD work permits must be issued for all entries into chemical agent hazard areas and areas designated Permit Required Confined Spaces. Work permits, which must identify the individual and the work to be performed, are reviewed by operations maintenance and safety personnel and approved by the shift manager. Special monitoring may be required, and records of entries and monitoring must be kept for 30 years beyond the last day of employment or the closure date of the facility. 

There is another criterion called permit-required confined space such as an engvilfment, entrapment, or any other recognized serious safety or health hazards. 

Sometimes in a confined space the internal configuration or shape is built to have inwardly converging walls or a floor that slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross section that could trap an entrant or contribute to asphyxiation. This is designed as a permit-required confined spaced. Examples are fermenter and digester. 

The space that contains any other recognizable serious safety or health hazards is also a permit-required confined space. These hazards may be physical, electrical, mechanical, chemical, biological, radiation, temperature extremes, and structural hazards. 

The OSHA regulation on permit-required confined spaces (29 CFR 1910.146), defines an IDLH condition as follows ... 

Confined Space any space not intended for continuous human occupancy and having a limited means of egress. A permit-required confined space contains or has the potential for a hazardous atmosphere (toxic, flammable, or oxygen deficient) and/or engulfinent or entrapment hazards. Confined or enclosed spaces include, but are not limited to, storage tanks, process vessels, bins, boilers, ventilation or exhaust ducts, sewers, underground utility vaults, tunnels, pipelines, and open top spaces more than 4 feet in depth such as pits, tubs, vaults, and vessels. 

OSHA s Contined Spaces Advisor — assists in ihe identification of confined qiaces and provides information on how to deal with permit required confined spaces, n... 

The second definition is a subset of the first. A permit-required confined space is a confined space with one or more of the following characteristics contains or may contain a hazardous atmosphere, contains a material with the potential for engulfment of an entrant (such as sawdust, sand, grain, or earth), has an internal configuration or shape such that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated, or contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard. 

The criterion for permit-required confined space is that it contains or has a known potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere, including chemicals, sludge, or sewage. Hazardous atmosphere means an atmosphere that may expose employees to the risk of death, incapacitation, impairment of ability to self-rescue (escape unaided), injury, or acute illness. Examples of hazardous atmospheres are a flammable gas or vapor, airborne combustible dust at a concentration that meets or exceeds its LEL, unacceptable oxygen levels, or any atmospheric condition recognized as immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH). 

A space that by design has limited openings for entry and exit, unfavorable natural ventilation, contains or produces dangerous air contaminants, and is not intended for continuous employee occupancy. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) uses the term permit-required confined space (permit space) to describe a confined space that has one or more of the following characteristics contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere contains a material that has the potential to engulf an entrant has walls that converge inward or floors that... 

List the five basic characteristics that could apply to a permit-required confined space. Define the following noise-related terms ... 

OSHA s new confined space rule provides protection for employees that enter a permit-required confined space. 

Continuous System-Permit-Required Confined Space (CS-PRCS)... 

The employer must ensure that employees that will be in or near a Permit-Required Confined Space (PRCS), for example employees who have duties specified by the applicable sections of this standard (entiy supervisors, attendants, authorized entrants, and rescue-service employees) acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for the safe performance of these duties. This training must result in an understanding of the hazards in the PRCS and the methods used to isolate, control, or in other ways protect employees from these hazards. 

Training needs for employees who will be in or near a permit required confined space (PRCS). 

States Danger—Permit-Required Confined Space—Authorized Employees Only or... 

If the controlling contractor classified a space as an Isolated-Hazard Confined Space (IHCS), Controlled-Atmosphere Confined Space (CASA), Permit-Required Confined Space (PRCS), or Continuous System-Permit-Required Confined Space (CS-PRCS) then it must ... 

Discuss the requirements for monitoring of the atmosphere in permit-required confined spaces. 

Retrieval systems such as harnesses and other methods must be used whenever an authorized employee enters a permit-required confined space. This allows the employee to be removed from the space by attendants located outside of the space. 

Some portions may have a descriptive name. For example, 29CRF1910.146 also has the name OSHA Permit-Required Confined Spaces Standard. 

Confined spaces are those that hinder activities of workers who enter, work inside or exit. Many are enclosures having limited means of access and egress. OSHA classifies confined spaces as simply confined space or permit-required confined space. The latter applies if one or more of the following conditions apply ... 

Prior to entry, one must evaluate a confined space for hazards. Based on the assessment, there must be a determination whether the space is a permit-required confined space. 

Permit-Required Confined Spaces, OSHA Pubhcation 3130-OIR, 2004 www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3138.pdf... 

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