OSHA's General Industry Regulation, §1910.146 Permit-required confined spaces, contains requirements for practices and procedures to protect employees in general industry from the hazards of entry into permit-required confined spaces. This regulation does not apply to construction.
OSHA's Construction Safety and Health Regulations Part 1926 do not contain a permit-required confined space regulation. Subpart C, §1926.21 Safety training and education specifies training for personnel who are required to enter confined spaces and defines a "confined or enclosed space." These requirements are shown below.
§1926.21 Safety training and education. (Partial)
(b)(6)(i) All employees required to enter into confined or enclosed spaces shall be instructed as to the nature of the hazards involved, the necessary precautions to be taken, and in the use of protective and emergency equipment required. The employer shall comply with any specific regulations that apply to work in dangerous or potentially dangerous areas.
(ii) For purposes of paragraph (b)(6)(i) of this section, "confined or enclosed space" means any space having a limited means of egress, which is subject to the accumulation of toxic or flammable contaminants or has an oxygen deficient atmosphere. Confined or enclosed spaces include, but are not limited to, storage tanks, process vessels, bins, boilers, ventilation or exhaust ducts, sewers, underground utility vaults, tunnels pipelines, and open top spaces more than 4 feet in depth such as pits, tubs, vaults, and vessels.
OSHA's Construction Regulations also contain requirements dealing with confined space hazards in underground construction (Subpart S), underground electric transmission and distribution work (§1926.956), excavations (Subpart P), and welding and cutting (Subpart J).
Further guidance may be obtained from American National Standard ANSI Z117.1-1989, Safety Requirements for Confined Spaces. This standard provides minimum safety requirements to be followed while entering, exiting and working in confined spaces at normal atmospheric pressure. This standard does not pertain to underground mining, tunneling, caisson work or other similar tasks that have established national consensus standards. |
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