Page 41 - Occupational Health & Safety, July/August 2019

What are OSHA’s Confined Space Training Requirements?
Confined space standards for both gen- eral industry and the construction industry place great emphasis on safety training.
Involved employees performing each entry role described above have specific safety training requirements based on po- tential hazards in the confined space and the tasks they’ll be carrying out. These re- quirements also determine when individu- als assigned to a certain role must receive training. For example, employees who are designated as part of the search and rescue team have to be trained as authorized en- trants as well as performing rescue duties. This means each employee in the emergen- cy and rescue team must be trained in basic first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). At least one member of the rescue team needs to have an active certification in basic first aid and CPR.
The standard also requires the rescue team to practice performing confined space rescues before attempting an actual rescue. This type of training needs to reoccur on an annual basis (once every 12 months) by performing simulated rescue operations in a replicated confined space.
It’s important for the rescue team to perform practice rescues and for all em- ployees to maintain training compliance. In a study4 conducted by NIOSH in 2017, rescuers accounted for about 60 percent of confined space fatalities. The study also found that only 15 percent of all employees involved in a confined space incident had received confined space training.
How Can You Provide Proper Confined Space Training?
Though training is critically important for worker safety, it’s no secret that scheduling and coordinating it can be difficult, time- consuming, and can even delay work.
You can streamline the safety training process by using online training manage- ment systems to schedule and track em- ployee training. The latter is particularly important, as both OSHA’s general indus- try and construction standards require organizations to maintain detailed train- ing records. You’ll need to be able to easily provide an OSHA compliance officer with training records in the event that your busi- ness is subject to an OSHA inspection.
It may be beneficial to also consider
online training content for easy train- ing delivery. Full-length online courses have been found to be effective for safety training while minimizing overhead costs. Online safety training courses also can contain mid-point quizzes and learning checks to improve employee en- gagement and verify that learners have the knowledge they need to work safely in confined spaces.
Clare A. Epstein is Chief Operating Of- ficer of IndustrySafe, Inc. She oversees the IndustrySafe Safety Management Software
and has assisted numerous organizations in improving their safety data analysis.
REFERENCES
1. https://www.osha.gov/confinedspaces/ 1926_subpart_aa.pdf
2. https://www.industrysafe.com/training
3. https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/ standardinterpretations/standardnum- ber/1910/1910.146%20-%20Index/result
4. https://ohsonline.com/articles/2018/08/01/ we-must-change-the-statistics-of-confined-space- injuries-and-fatalities.aspx
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