• Employee Training

General Training Requirements

All affected personnel must be trained in this work instruction. New personnel will be trained immediately, and refresher training will be given as required. The overall intent of this training is to give employees the understanding, knowledge, and skills necessary for the safe performance of their assigned duties in relation to the confined spaces of concern. Awareness training will be presented to employees who have the potential to be exposed to confined spaces. 

Training

Training shall be provided to each affected employee: 

(1) Before the employee is first assigned duties and before there is a change in assigned duties;

(2) Whenever there is a change in permit space operations that presents a new hazard;

(3) Whenever the employer has reason to believe either that there are deviations from the permit space entry procedures or that there are inadequacies in the employee's knowledge or use of these procedures.

The training shall establish employee proficiency in the duties required and shall introduce new or revised procedures, as necessary.

The employer shall certify that the training required has been accomplished. The certification shall contain each employee's name, the signatures or initials of the trainers, and the dates of training. The certification shall be available for inspection by employees and their authorized representatives.

• Confined Space is defined as a space that:

(1) Is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work; 

(2) Has limited or restricted means for entry or exit (for example, tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, and pits are spaces that may have limited means of entry.); and 

(3) Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.

• Non - Permit Required Confined Space (NPRCS) is defined as a confined space with all the following characteristics:

(1) It is large enough and so configured that an employee can enter and perform assigned work.

(2) It is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.

(3) It has limited or restricted means for exit/entry.

• Permit Required Confined Space (PRCS) is defined as a confined space with one or more of the following characteristics:

(1) Contains, or has the potential to contain, a hazardous atmosphere.

(2) Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant.

(3) Has an internal configuration such that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls, or a floor that tapers to a smaller cross section. 

(4) Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazards.