General industry and the construction industry have a lot in common when it comes to confined space hazards: the potential for fire, explosion, chemical exposure and oxygen enrichment or deficiency. In spite of the commonalities, there are significant differences between the two, says Edward J. Willwerth, an NFPA-certified marine chemist who has taught confined space safety courses for the U.S. military, shipyards, petroleum terminals, chemical manufacturers and industrial facilities.
“The largest difference will be the expectation of routine in the general industrial setting, as opposed to the expectation of variety in the construction setting,” said Willwerth.
Those differences extend to fatality rates. In statistics analyzed by NIOSH in 19941, the U.S. construction industry had a confined space fatality rate about two and a half times that of the manufacturing industry. If the focus is on trench cave-ins, the numbers are even more lopsided. During one ten-year period studied by NIOSH2, the construction industry accounted for 77 percent of the trench cave-in deaths. How can contractors and construction companies minimize confined space risks?
While confined space hazards are varied and numerous, all confined spaces have three things in common: