Training | Permit-Required Confined Spaces

All employees who work in permit spaces have to be trained to understand the hazards of confined spaces and obtain the skills necessary to safely perform their assigned duties. Training must be done:

§  Before the employee is first assigned duties;

§  Before there is a change in assigned duties;

§  Whenever there is a change in operations that present a new hazard; and

§  Whenever there are deviations from the entry procedures or inadequacies in an employee’s knowledge are noted.

The employer must certify that the training has been completed. Required training documentation includes each employee’s name, the signatures or initials of the trainers, and the dates of training.

Entrant duties

Authorized permit-required confined space entrants are required to be knowledgeable about the space and their job tasks inside the space to successfully perform their duties which include:

§  Knowing the hazards that may be faced during entry, including information on the mode, signs or symptoms, and consequences of the exposure;

§  Properly use equipment;

§  Communicate with the attendant;

§  Alert the attendant whenever:

o    The entrant recognizes any warning sign or symptom of exposure to a dangerous situation, or

o    The entrant detects a prohibited condition; and

§  Exit from the permit space as quickly as possible whenever:

o    An order to evacuate is given by the attendant or the entry supervisor,

o    The entrant recognizes any warning sign or symptom of exposure to a dangerous situation,

o    The entrant detects a prohibited condition, or

o    An evacuation alarm is activated.

Attendant duties

Authorized permit-required confined space attendants are required to be knowledgeable about the space to successfully perform their duties which include:

§  Knowing the hazards that may be faced during entry, including information on the mode, signs or symptoms, and consequences of the exposure;

§  Being aware of possible behavioral effects of hazard exposure in entrants;

§  Continuously maintain an accurate count of entrants and ensure that the entrants are accurately identified;

§  Remaining outside the space during entry operations until relieved by another attendant;

NOTE: If the entry program allows it, attendants may enter a permit space to attempt a rescue if they have been trained and equipped for rescue operations and if they have been relieved by another attendant.

§  Communicating with entrants to monitor their status and to alert them to evacuate the space, if necessary;

§  Monitoring activities inside and outside the space to determine if it is safe for entrants to remain in the space;

§  Ordering entrants to evacuate the space immediately under any of the following conditions:

o    Detecting a prohibited condition,

o    Noticing the behavioral effects of hazard exposure in an entrant,

o    Detecting a situation outside the space that could endanger the entrants, or

o    Determining that an attendant cannot effectively and safely perform all the required duties;

§  Summoning rescue and other emergency services as soon as it is determined that entrants may need escape assistance;

§  Warning unauthorized personnel to stay away from the permit space, or if they have already entered the space, tell them to exit it;

§  Warning entrants and the entry supervisor if unauthorized persons have entered the space;

§  Performing non-entry rescues, if specified by the employer’s rescue procedure; and

§  Performing no duties that might interfere with the attendant’s primary duty to monitor and protect entrants.

Entry supervisor duties

Permit-required confined space entry supervisors are required to be knowledgeable about the space to successfully perform their duties which include:

§  Knowing the hazards that may be faced during entry, including information on the mode, signs or symptoms, and consequences of the exposure;

§  Verifying, by checking the entry permit, that all tests specified by the permit have been conducted and that all procedures and equipment are in place before endorsing the permit and allowing entry to begin;

§  Terminating the entry and cancelling the permit at the conclusion of work;

§  Verifying that rescue services are available and that the means for summoning them are operable; and

§  Removing unauthorized individuals who enter or who attempt to enter the permit space during entry operations.

Supervisors also must determine, at least when shifts and entry supervisors change, that the acceptable conditions specified in the permit continue.