You are standing at the top of an open manhole acting as an attendant for a team of maintenance personnel who have entered a confined space that required an entry permit. It has been several minutes since you talked to the crew, but you can peer down into the space and see them. During your last few checks with them, everything was OK.

This time, however, when you yell down to check on them, you don't get a response. You look inside the hole and you notice that they are slumped over or leaning up against the wall.

You yell for help but know that it will be some time before a rescue team arrives. Those are your friends down there, and they need your help. They are real close to the top, why you almost could just reach down and pull them up. Your pulse is beating and you are breathing hard from excitement. You're yelling at the workers, trying to arouse them. Something has to be done . . . so . . . you jump down into the hole.

The rescue team arrives to pull your lifeless body out with the rest. The record will show that you attempted to rescue your friends and gave your life doing so.

CONFINED SPACE DEFINITION AND REVIEW:

A confined space is a space that is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work. It has limited or restricted means for entry or exit, and is not designed for continuous employee occupancy. Additionally, the space may contain a potentially hazardous atmosphere, it may have limited oxygen content, it may contain mechanical and /or electrical equipment which upon contact or activation may trap, crush, or electrocute persons in the space.

Some examples of confined spaces include but are not limited to: sewers, septic tanks, sewage digestors, pump stations, wells, manure pits and tanks, silos, vats, ducts, utility vaults, process vessels, boilers, pipelines, pits, ventilation and exhaust units, storage bins, hoppers, and caves.

A Company must evaluate each confined space to determine if that space is to be designated as a Permit-Required Confined Space or a Non-permit Confined Space.

A permit system is the written procedures for preparing and issuing permits for entry and for returning the permit space to service following termination of entry.

A non-permit confined space is a confined space that does not contain or with respect to atmospheric hazards, have the potential to contain any hazard capable of causing death or serious physical harm.

A permit-required confined space is any confined space that has one or more of the following characteristics:

Contains or has a potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere.
Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant.
Has an internal configuration such that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxia by inwardly converging walls or by a floor which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross section.
Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard.

PERMIT SYSTEM

Before entry is authorized, the employer shall document that the entry permit has been prepared and followed as outlined in the Confined Space Program.

> Before entry begins, the supervisor shall sign the entry permit.
> The complete permit shall be made available and posted at the time of entry.
> The duration of the permit may not exceed the time required to complete the task.
> The entry supervisor shall terminate and cancel the permit when the space and or when the activities have been completed.
> The permit shall be retained for one year.

The entry permit that authorizes entry to a permit space shall identify the following:

> The permit space to be entered.
> The purpose of the entry.
> The date and the authorized duration of the entry permit.
> The authorized entrants within the permit space by name or by other means as will enable the attendant to determine quickly and accurately for the duration of the permit which entrants are inside the permit space.
> The person serving as the attendant.
> The person by name currently serving as supervisor with a space for the signature or initials of the entry supervisor who authorized entry.
> The hazards of the permit space to be entered.
> The measures used to isolate the permit space and to eliminate or control permit space hazards before entry. (Lockout/tagout-isolate hazardous energy).
> The acceptable entry conditions.
> The results of initial and periodic tests performed for atmosphere monitoring and accompanied by the name of the testers and an indication of when the test were performed.
> The rescue and emergency services that can be summoned and the means (such as the equipment to use and the numbers to call) for summoning aid.

When you are an attendant watching over a confined space, your duty is to observe and assist from above. If you have a tag line on the person inside and can pull them out without entry, go ahead (but how much dead weight can you lift from below your feet). If you have the proper rescue tripod, you can winch the victim to the surface. At no time do you enter the space to attempt rescue. You can wait until a new attendant arrives, and after you put on the proper rescue equipment and enter (providing of course you have been trained in rescue procedures). But you must never abandon your duties as the attendant and attempt rescue on your own.

Confined spaces can be killers. Know what the risks are and take appropriate measures to control them before entry occurs. Be sure that air samples (air monitoring)are taken before entry, and as frequently during entry as required or that are necessary by the activities being conducted. Provide ventilation into the space if required. Use all personal protective equipment in accordance with the manufacturers directions. Use your entry permit to log the sample results and the time of test. Have a rescue plan established that is realistic and feasible based on the type and location of confined space entry.

The Confined Space Standard 29 CFR 1910.146

Confined Space Guidance

Training Roster

Training Acknowledgement