Confined Spaces
Many workplaces contain
spaces that are considered "confined" because
their configurations hinder the activities of employees
who must enter, work in, and exit them. A confined space
has limited or restricted means for entry or exit, and
it is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.
Confined spaces include, but are not limited to underground
vaults, tanks, storage bins, manholes, pits, silos,
process vessels, and pipelines. OSHA uses the term "permit-required
confined space" (permit space) to describe a confined
space that has one or more of the following characteristics:
contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous
atmosphere; contains a material that has the potential
to engulf an entrant; has walls that converge inward
or floors that slope downward and taper into a smaller
area which could trap or asphyxiate an entrant; or contains
any other recognized safety or health hazard, such as
unguarded machinery, exposed live wires, or heat stress.
|
|
|