Page 44 - OHS, April 2020

CONFINED SPACES
A Job Interrupted Versus a Job Well Done
The four essentials of confined space safety for construction workers.
BY ANNE OSBOURN
40 Occupational Health & Safety | APRIL 2020
www.ohsonline.com
Confined space work presents a unique en- vironment: one with potential health and safety risks for many workers. Identifying possible threats and pre-emptively plan-
ning to thwart them, however, could make a differ- ence in how the workday goes.
Working in a confined space can be both challeng- ing and dangerous. Unlike other work environments, confined spaces have unique parameters and special limitations.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), a confined space is an area that: ■ is large enough for an employee to bodily enter
and perform the work,
■ has restrictions to entry or exit, and
■ is not designed for continuous human
occupancy.
Furthermore, OSHA defines a permit-required
confined space as one that:
■ contains, or has a known potential to contain, a
hazardous atmosphere,
■ contains material with engulfment potential,
■ has an internal configuration such that en-
trants could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls, or a floor which slopes and tapers to a smaller cross-section, or
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