OSHA’S NEW CONFINED SPACES FOR CONSTRUCTION by Dennis M. Dougherty, MS, MBA, CHST, President and CEO, Med-Tex Services, Inc. The new standard for confined spaces in construction became effective August 3, 2015. An organization’s estimators, project managers, safety professionals and management to the front line trades person should be aware of this significant change to construction operations. This new standard may impact every phase of a project. Employers engaged in construction where known spaces are located or will occur as a result of construction have obligations under this standard to perform certain activities and to protect their workers. This also applies to fixed facilities where confined spaces are located and may perform work that is categorized as construction work.
3. Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy. A permit-required confined space (permit space) means a confined space that has one or more of the following characteristics: 1. Contains or has a 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 by a floor which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section 4. Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard.
Specifically, the preamble clarification reads, “all employers engaged in construction have a duty to ensure that their employees do not enter a confined space except in accordance with the requirements of this standard, and the presence of a confined space on the worksite triggers this duty rather than the type of work the employer is performing.”
Confined spaces may include areas such as: bins, boilers, tanks, pits (such as those for elevators, escalators, valves or pumps), sewers (such as storm drains, those for electrical, communication or other utilities), transformer vaults, heating, ventilation and air-condition ducts (HVAC), water mains, precast concrete, enclosed beams, pre-formed manhole units, crawl spaces and more.
By definition, a confined space means a space that: 1. Is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter it; 2. Has limited or restricted means for entry and exit; and
At quick glance, the new construction confined space regulation includes five key differences from the existing general industry standard, 29 CFR 1910.146:
40 CONSTRUCTION TODAY