Published on 27/11/23 449 Views

A confined space is referred to as a space which is large enough for someone to enter and work, is an enclosed or partially enclosed space, has restricted entry/exit routes, is not designed, or intended to be primarily used for human occupancy and contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere. Confined space entry (CSE) is used in a wide range of industries to perform a range of tasks including cleaning and maintenance. The key concern relating to CSEs is that should an incident occur it often results in serious injury or fatality to personnel for those working within the CSE. The need for a CSE should always be challenged although should it be unavoidable, a safe system of work must be in place to assess the risks.

Ask yourself and your crew:

How can something like this happen here (e.g. on our site)?
What safety measures (i.e. procedures, controls/barriers) do we have in place to mitigate the risk?
How do we know the risk controls/barriers are working?
What improvements or changes should we make to the procedures, controls/barriers or the way we work?

Original content courtesy of IChemE Safety Centre

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ISC Safety Lore Issue 19 - Key Lesson from incidents involving confined space entry

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