This year, as in the past, we’ve read several unfortunate headlines about workers being killed on the job, often in permit-required confined spaces. For instance, seven workers were killed performing maintenance work at a brewery owned by the makers of Corona beer. The cruise ship “MS Pacific,” better known as the “Love Boat” from the television series and sold to scrap this year, claimed the lives of two workers and poisoned eight others while they pumped water from the ship’s engine room. These recent incidents indicate that, given everything we know about the dangers of confined spaces, workers are still entering them to perform work and are placing their lives at risk by not following established safety standards and failing to maintain continuous air quality monitoring. Although the two mentioned tragic incidents occurred outside of the United States, confined spaces can be deadly in any part of the world.
Specific to the U.S., the standard to follow for confined space work is OSHA 29 CFR 1910.46. This standard defines a confined space and permit-required confined space. A confined space possesses the following attributes; a space large enough for an employee to enter and conduct work in the space; has a limited means of entry and exit; and is not designed for continuous occupancy. OSHA identifies a permit-required confined space as having the potential to contain a combustible atmosphere; contains a material for engulfing an Entrant; an internal configuration such that an Entrant could become trapped; and contains any other recognizable safety hazard. In this article, a protocol of safe air quality monitoring procedures will be described for all who enter confined spaces in order to ensure they will safely exit the confined space. Also included is a recommended procedure for employers and employees to follow before entering into confined spaces.