Confined Space Entry and Awareness

Overview

Employees entering confined spaces without proper protection can be seriously or fatally injured. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that 63 fatalities and 13,000 lost workday cases occur annually as a result of confined space entry accidents. A recent study by OSHA and the National Institute of Safety and Health (NIOSH) indicates that atmospheric conditions were the leading cause of death associated with confined space entry. The data indicates that oxygen deficiency, hydrogen sulfide, methane, and inert gases ranked as the leading specific atmospheric hazardous conditions .

The purpose of this document is to provide Yale personnel with the guidance necessary for the identification, evaluation, and control of confined space hazards, and to ensure that employees who must enter confined space locations are trained and apprised of the procedures necessary for safe entry. This program provides criteria for identifying and evaluating confined spaces and establishes the standard precautions and procedures that must be implemented to eliminate potential hazards during actual entry .

Scope and application:

This document applies to all work performed at "Yale", including the Central, West, Science Hill campuses, School of Medicine, nearby athletic fields, and any other properties owned or controlled by Yale. In most instances employees will only need to be aware of what a Confined Space is to avoid entry and/or to know that additional precautions will need to be taken if entry is to occur.

A Confined Space is an enclosed area that is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and has the following characteristics:

• Its primary function is something other than human occupancy, and
• It has a restricted entry and exit. (Restricted entry and exit is a physical configuration, which requires the use of the hands or contortion of the body to enter into or exit from a confined space)

To be Confined Space Aware, an employee should read and understand this program to be able to know when they are encountering and potentially will enter a Confined Space.

Upon participating in a confined space entry, an employee may:

• Perform actual entries into permit-required confined spaces (Authorized Entrants);
• Serve as an attendants during permit-required confined space entry (Attendant); or
• Serve as entry rescuers during permit-required confined space entry (Entry Rescuer); or
• Supervise others who enter or attend during entries (Entry Supervisor).

If your job requires entry into confined space areas as reviewed above, please register for the Confined Space Awareness training through Yale's TMS site: http://www.yale.edu/training.