7/27/2019 Expanding Confined Space Awarenesss

1/3

Expanding Confined Space AwarenessSep. 1, 2008Elizabeth Wilson

Joe Gurican, who teaches a confined space awareness class, believes confined space deathstypically occur for two reasons. First, employers and workers fail to recognize and control thehazards associated with confined spaces, and secondly, they conduct inadequate or incorrectemergency response, resulting in the death of the initial entrant, the would-be rescuer or both.

The first step in preventing confined space deaths is understanding the difference between permittedand non-permitted confined spaces. A permit-required confined space contains or has potential tocontain a hazardous atmosphere, contains the potential for engulfment, is an internal configurationthat can trap or asphyxiate the entrant or poses any other serious safety and health hazards.

A permit system and a written permit-required confined space program must be developed ifemployees are going to enter permit spaces, says Gurican, an instructor for the Safety Center.

A permit space may be reclassified as a non-permit space if it poses no actual or potentialatmospheric hazards and if all hazards with the space are eliminated. If an entry must be made toeliminate the hazards, the entry must be done using the permit system. The elimination of hazardsmust be documented and certified by the employer.

Employers must inform the employees of the existence of any permit spaces through signs or otherequally effective means and prevent unauthorized entry, Gurican adds.

Typical permit-required spaces include chemical storage tanks, pipelines, lift stations, tunnels, wastewater tanks, air handling units, catch basins, furnaces, sewers, boilers, underground, retentionbasins, man holes, valve pits, grain bins and waste storage pits. According to Gurican, Sewers areconsidered a permitted confined space because you never know what someone has dumpedupstream that could flow into the work space.

A confined space has limited means of egress, can be bodily entered and is not designed forcontinuous occupancy. Typical non-permit-required spaces include utility closets, cable vaults,storage vaults and utility subbasements. In most cases, a trench is not considered a confined space.

Entrants, Attendants and Supervisors

Authorized entrants must know the hazards that may be faced during entry, including information onthe type of hazard and the signs and symptoms of oxygen deficiency. Authorized entrants should beable to recognize any warning signs or symptoms of exposure to a dangerous environment. Theymust use equipment as required and must communicate with the attendant as necessary to enablethe attendant to monitor their status. It also is the task of entrants to alert the attendant wheneverhazards arise.

Once an entrant detects a prohibited condition, he or she should exit the permit space as soon aspossible. An entrant also should quickly exit a permit space if an order to evacuate is given by theattendant or supervisor or if an evacuation alarm is activated.

The attendant is required to know the hazards that may be faced during entry and be aware of thepotential behavioral effects of hazard exposure on authorized entrants. Attendants also continuouslyshould maintain an accurate count of authorized entrants in the permit space and remain outside thepermit space during entry operations until relieved by another attendant. Attendants should performnon-entry rescues or other rescue services as part of the employer's on-site rescue procedure.

Entry supervisors should review the permit to ensure that all tests have been conducted and allprocedures and equipment are in place before signing the permit. They also must terminate entryand cancel permits, verify that rescue services are available and remove unauthorized individualswho enter the space.

7/27/2019 Expanding Confined Space Awarenesss

2/3

Rescue Services and Procedures

Employers must ensure that at least one standby person at the site is trained and immediatelyavailable to perform rescue and emergency services. It is the responsibility of employers to ensurethat each member of the rescue service is provided with and is trained to use the personal protectiveequipment and rescue equipment necessary for making rescues from permit spaces.

It's not a good idea to rely on the fire department for the rescue services, because they can't bethere when you want them. The attendant should be trained to rescue and have all the equipmentnecessary to do so, says Gurican.

Each member of the rescue service is tasked with practicing permit space rescues at least onceevery 12 months by simulating rescue operations in which they remove dummies or volunteeremployees from the actual permit spaces or from representative permit spaces. Representativepermit spaces must, with respect to opening size, configuration and accessibility, simulate the typesof permit spaces from which rescues will be performed.

In addition to initial training, refresher training should be conducted as needed and the employer

must certify that the training has occurred. Training should be provided so that all employees acquirethe understanding, knowledge and skills necessary for the safe performance of the duties assigned.Training should be provided when there is a change in assigned duties and whenever an employeeis assigned a task for which they have not been trained.

Monitoring and Instrumentation

An important aspect of training for confined space entry is to share with employees the deadlynature of confined spaces. Confined spaces can be deadly because of the potential for engulfment,oxygen deficiency, oxygen enrichment, flammable gases or vapors, combustible dusts, toxicsubstances and other physical hazards. Other health hazards that could impact employee safetyinclude electrical equipment, mechanical equipment, poor visibility, biohazards, claustrophobia,noise, radiation and temperature.

If workers are taking a meter into a confined space with them, they need to know how to use it.They should know what the alarms sounds like, how to turn it on and off, etc., Gurican warns.Workers should check all the monitors before they enter a confined space. Then again, don't justfollow the meters; workers should let their bodies tell them when it's time to leave a confined space.

Engulfing materials include liquids or loose solids such as grain, sand or other granular material.People cannot escape when caught in moving loose solids and usually suffocate, says Gurican.Workers often get engulfed when in-feed or out-feed lines are inadvertently opened or activated.Entrapment occurs when the space is configured in a way that can trap a worker.

Purging, inerting, flushing or ventilating the permit space is necessary to eliminate or controlatmospheric hazards, though controlling these hazards through forced air ventilation does notnecessarily eliminate them. The employer must demonstrate that forced air ventilation will control all

hazards in the space.For atmospheric testing, hazards must be tested in this order: oxygen content,combustibility/flammability and toxic atmospheres. Also, entrants must be allowed to observemonitoring.

A hazardous atmosphere in a confined space has one or more of the following: flammable gas, mistor vapor, flammable dusts and oxygen content below 19.5 percent or above 23.5 percent. Thephysical symptoms of oxygen deficiency include:

19.5-16 percent: Fatigue, mild impaired coordination

16-12 percent: Increased breathing rate and pulse; impaired coordination, perception or judgment 12-10 percent: Further increased breathing rate, blue lips, mental confusion

7/27/2019 Expanding Confined Space Awarenesss

3/3

10-8 percent: Fainting, nausea, vomiting, mental confusion within a few minutes 8-6 percent: Collapse, death within eight minutes 6-0 percent: Coma within 40 seconds, death

Extra oxygen typically is from leaking oxygen cylinders used for oxyacetylene torches. Oxygenabove 23.5 percent is a fire or explosion hazard. Flammable gases, vapors or dusts will ignite from aspark or a flame if they are above the lower flammable limit. A confined space cannot be entered ifthe gas or vapor levels are higher than 10 percent above the lower flammable limit.

Working with Chemicals

The most common toxic chemicals in confined space fatalities are hydrogen sulfide and carbonmonoxide, which comes from operating internal combustion engines in or near a confined space.Other chemicals in the atmosphere can come from welding fumes or vapors from liquid residues instorage tanks. Chemicals are classified as having physical hazards if they are explosive,compressed gas, combustible liquids, flammable, unstable, water reactive or oxidizers. A chemical isconsidered a health hazard if it can cause cancer, is poisonous, can cause harm to skin, internalorgans or the nervous system, is corrosive or if i t can cause allergic reactions after repeatedexposure.

Material safety data sheets from chemical manufacturers provide additional information regardingsafe use of the product. Each MSDS should tell you common name and chemical name of thematerial, the name address and phone number of the manufacturer, emergency phone numbers forimmediate hazard information and the date the MSDS was written.

The best training materials for using testing equipment are the manufactures guidelines, Guricansays.

An MSDS also should contain a list of the hazardous ingredients, health hazards of the chemical,identification of chemical and physical properties, first aid and emergency information and safehandling guidelines.

A lot of chemicals have a latency component to them and you might not immediately feel the effectsof exposure, but you could develop a problem later if you don't follow the manufacturer's guidelinesand have proper ventilation, gloves and protective eyewear, warns Gurican.

Planning for Entry

Pre-planning for confined space entry should include all parties involved and should serve thepurpose of reviewing entry procedures as well as covering specific hazards inherent to the spacesbeing entered. It should cover all required engineering controls needed to address the space'shazards, including ventilation, space isolation, lockout/tagout of equipment and personal protectiveequipment. To eliminate physical hazards, lock out moving parts, blank or block steam pipes andproduct in feeding pipes, de-energize electrical parts or wiring.

Always be aware of how you're setting up your equipment and where you're setting it up. If youplace a fan for ventilation in the wrong place, you might be sending debris into the work space,Gurican says.

Confined spaces can be killers. Following OSHA regulations and training employees to followconfined space regulations will save lives.

Elizabeth Wilson is a freelance writer from Sacramento, Calif. Safety Center Inc. was founded in1934 to reduce injuries and save lives by providing safety education and training. For moreinformation, call (800) 825-7262 or visithttp://www.safetycenter.org .