Director

Working in Confined Spaces
Did You Cover Your Risks?
By Thierry Dumortier & Tjeerd Hendel-Blackford
Most industrial facilities have confined spaces. They often get overlooked because access to them is rare. Not surprisingly, many facility managers believe there is no particular reason for concern. The awakening could be a rude one, as several managers have faced criminal prosecution andsubstantial fines as a result of fatal accidents.
The issue of work in confined spaces is a historical one, yet accidents in these highly dangerous work environments continue to occur. In June 2011 Enhesa carried out a survey on how work in confined spaces is regulated around the globe and how multinational companies should tackle the issue. The survey was triggered by the fact that in the pasttwo years, more than 20 countries reviewed the regulations on the issue.
This article explores the varying approaches to regulating work in confined spaces, focusing particularly on significant differences in definitions and safety requirements. Faced with these varying approaches, it identifies what approach companies should take to cover the risk and ensure compliance worldwide.
Confined spaces- the hazards
In 1983, a young student engineer was being shown around a dam site where he was to start work on a construction project. As part of the student's introduction to the site, the employee showing him around took him to a drain area to show him how to measure water in the chamber.
The employee opened the manhole cover and entered the chamber. After being at the bottom of the chamberfor a couple of seconds he started to climb back up the stairs. Suddenly, he became red in the face and started coughing. He fell down to the water below. The student shouted for help and another worker arrived on the scene. That worker descended into the manhole, started to pull up the other victim, and also collapsed. Another two men descended into the chamber. Both did not come up again. Noneof the four workers involved survived.
Fatalities in confined spaces happen quickly in seemingly innocuous situations. Inhaling an atmosphere that contains no oxygen causes loss of consciousness in a matter of seconds because such an atmosphere not only fails to provide fresh oxygen but also removes oxygen already present in the bloodstream.
When an oxygen-free atmosphere is breathed, thebreathing process is reversed and instead of carbon dioxide, it is oxygen which diffuses from the blood in the lungs to the inhaled air.
There are many industry sectors that carry out work involving confined spaces. The US Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OSHA) estimates that 2 million workers annually enter confined spaces in some 225,000 workplaces. If we translate this statistic globally, itis clear that tens of millions of workers enter confined spaces every year. The implications are clear - confined spaces are a universal problem for industry. Industries where work involves many confined spaces include oil and gas refineries, electrical and power utilities, nuclear power, food processing, mining, pulp and paper, airlines, waste processing, chemical industry, water and sewer,military, motor, freight transportation, steel manufacture, corrosion removal, tank inspection and repair, shipbuilding and rescue.
The aforementioned example of a confined space accident also highlights the statistic that over half of all workplace confined space fatalities involve workers trying to rescue their colleagues. These fatalities occur where people have gone to the rescue of others andfound themselves in similar trouble. Two thirds of all such deaths are caused by dangerous atmospheres, and one third involves toxic gas or oxygen deficiency. Often the danger is not present at the time of entry, which reinforces the need for continuous monitoring and supervision of work in confined spaces. Figure 1 provides an overview of the main causes of accidents and injuries in confined...