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The Health & Safety Kit: Confined Spaces

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The Health & Safety Kit: Confined Spaces

HST Kit: Confined Spaces

Just as with any other workspace, there are responsibilities, guidelines and laws that are applicable to employers with employees working in confined spaces.

As well as the usual hazards and safety issues, confined spaces present further risks which need to be managed and minimised by observing regulations and legislation. Appropriate training is also necessary for both employers and employees, but the essential basis of any understanding is, as always, a sound risk assessment.

The Hazards

Working in confined spaces clearly presents additional hazards, whether the area is small crawl space or as large as a storage silo, extra risks to health are presented by:

  • Noxious gases that cannot escape as they would from a non-confined space
  • Reduced oxygen as it cannot circulate as freely in a confined space
  • Increased risks from dust and other contaminants
  • Increased risks of fire and flooding

It must be considered that confined spaces also present the same risks and potential hazards as other workspaces, but the likelihood and severity of these risks are increased as individual workers may have their ability to manoeuvre and handle equipment severely hampered.

The Law

The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 places a responsibility upon employers to ensure that their workers are safe at work. This law is reinforced through a series of regulations.

The Confined Spaces Regulations (CSR) 1997 gives a definition of what a confined space is:.

‘ “confined space” means any place, including any chamber, tank, vat, silo, pit, trench, pipe, sewer, flue, well or other similar space in which, by virtue of its enclosed nature, there arises a reasonably foreseeable specified risk’.

Risks specified in the regulations include:

  • Serious injury resulting from a fire or explosion
  • Loss of consciousness arising from an increase in body temperature
  • Loss of consciousness or asphyxiation arising from gas, fume, vapour or the lack of oxygen
  • Drowning as a result of an increase in the level of liquid
  • Asphyxiation from a free-flowing solid
  • Inability to reach a respirable environment due to entrapment

The CSR 1997 also refers to a ‘‘system of work” and states this ‘includes the provision of suitable equipment which is in good working order’.

There are a number of other Regulations and Acts that are relevant to work in confined spaces: the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (often referred to as PUWER) places upon employers the duty of ensuring that equipment provided to carry out work is suitable for the intended purpose, safe for use, maintained to a suitable standard, is used by those who have had suitable instruction, training and understanding, is accompanied by health and safety features such as controls and protective devices, and is used appropriately.

Other legislation which is applicable to work in confined spaces is included in the Workplace Regulations 1992, the Personal Protective Equipment Regulations 2002 and the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992 (as amended).

Your Responsibilities

All employers are responsible for ensuring that their employees are safe when working and in order to comply with this, employers must ensure that they observe and adhere to guidance and regulations.

The CSR 1997 defines employers’ responsibilities and states that every employer shall ensure compliance with the provisions so far as is reasonably practicable for both employees and non-employees. In other words, an employer is responsible for ensuring that the CSR 1997 Regulations are complied with by every employee and anyone else who undertakes work for him or on his premises.

An important element of compliance with the law is ensuring that appropriate training is given to both employers and employees, and that that training is kept up to date. The underpinning importance of risk assessment in any work scenario should never be ignored, and employers should take full advantage of maintaining a high level of training in the ongoing assessment of risk.

 

Health and Safety Training Ltd

For more information on the training available for keeping workers in confined spaces safe from harm, contact the team at Health and Safety Training Ltd. We offer a range of training courses aimed at employers, employees and managers, in a variety of subjects, from risk assessment and first aid, to general courses in managing safety.

 

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