E – 1796 Guide to Safety in Confined Spaces

Confined spaces pose a number of safety threats to workers. They could contain a toxic gas, be deceptively hot, or have a lack of oxygen, among other threats. Therefore, it is essential that employers and employees alike are educated in safety procedures regarding confined spaces. This course provides safety practices for a variety of threats that could potentially exist in a confined space.

Course participants will learn how to define and classify a confined space, the various types of hazards that may be present in confined spaces, the entry options of confined spaces, methods for clearing hazards, and the importance of education and training. The two leading causes of fatal injuries in confined spaces are (1) the lack of recognition of hazards and (2) inadequate or incorrect emergency response.

This course is based on the publication A Guide to Safety in Confined Spaces. The techniques and methodologies described in these course documents are derived from OSHA standards. If any part of this course is found to conflict with an OSHA standard, then the standard should be following.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the course, the student should understand:

• What constitutes a confined space
• The procedures for assessing risk in a confined space
• The different types of hazards that commonly appear in confined spaces
• Methods for making a safe entry into a confined space
• The duties of the entrant, the attendant, and the supervisor
• How to respond to emergency situations involving confined spaces