Confined Spaces
Chapter 296-809, WAC |
Effective
Date: 05/01/04 |
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| Identifying
and Controlling Permit-required Confined Spaces
WAC
296-809-200
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Your Responsibility:
To identify your permit-required confined
spaces and control employee entry
You must
WAC
296-809-20002
Identify permit-required confined spaces
IMPORTANT:
• If your workplace contains only non-permit
confined spaces and your employees don't enter another employer’s
confined space, you may follow only the requirements in:
- WAC 296-809-200,
Identifying and Controlling Permit-required Confined Spaces
and
- WAC 296-809-700,
Non-permit Confined Space Requirements.
• See the Resources section for other chapters
covering confined spaces that may apply to your work.
You must
• Identify all permit-required confined
spaces in your workplace.
• Assume any confined space is a
permit-required confined space, unless you determine the space
to be a non-permit confined space.
- If you enter the space to determine the
hazards, follow the requirements in WAC
296-809-500, Permit Entry Procedures.
- If you evaluate the confined space and there
are no potential or actual hazards, you can consider it to be
a non-permit confined space.
• Document your determination that the
space is non-permit, as required by WAC
296-809-700.
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Definitions:
A permit-required
confined space or permit space is a confined space
that has one or more of the following characteristics capable
of causing death or serious physical harm:
- Contains or has a potential to contain
a hazardous atmosphere.
- Contains a material with the potential for engulfing
someone who enters the space.
- Has an internal configuration that could allow someone
entering to be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging
walls or by a floor, which slopes downward and tapers
to a smaller cross-section.
- Contains any physical hazard. This includes any recognized
health or safety hazards including engulfment in solid
or liquid material, electrical shock, or moving parts.
- Contains any other recognized safety or health hazard
that could either:
- Impair the ability to self rescue
or
- Result in a situation that
presents an immediate danger to life or health.
A non-permit confined space
is a confined space that does not contain
actual hazards or potential hazards capable of causing death
or serious physical harm. |
WAC 296-809-20004
Inform employees and control entry to
permit-required confined spaces
You
must
(1) Provide information
about confined spaces as follows:
- Make available to
affected employees and their authorized representatives all
information and documents required by this chapter.
- Inform affected employees about the existence,
location, and danger of any permit-required confined spaces
in your workplace by:
• Posting danger signs
or
• Using any other equally effective means to inform
employees.
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Note:
A sign reading “DANGER-PERMIT REQUIRED
CONFINED SPACE, DO NOT ENTER” or using pictures or
other similar wording employees can understand, would satisfy
the requirement for a sign.
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You must
(2) Take effective measures
to prevent unauthorized employees from entering permit-required
confined spaces.
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Note:
Examples of measures to prevent employee
entry include padlocks, bolted covers, special tools to
remove covers, and providing employee training. |
WAC 296-809-20006
Follow these requirements when you contract
with another employer to enter your confined space
IMPORTANT:
The contractor is responsible for following
all confined space requirements in this chapter and in other rules
that apply. For a list of other rules that may apply, see the
Resources section of this chapter.
You must
• Do all of the following
if you arrange to have another employer (contractor) perform work
that involves entry into your permit-required confined space:
- Inform the contractor:
• That the workplace contains permit-required
confined spaces and entry is allowed only if the applicable
requirements of this chapter are met
• Of the identified hazards and your
experience with each permit-required confined space
• Of any precautions or procedures
you require for the protection of employees in or near spaces
where the contractor will be working
- Coordinate entry operations
with the contractor, when either employees or employers from
the different companies will be working in or near permit-required
confined spaces.
- Discuss entry operations with the contractor
when they are complete. Include the following in your discussion:
• The program followed during confined
space entry
and
• Any hazards confronted or created.
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