Confined Space Entry Management for Safe Workplaces

Do you have confined spaces in your workplace or job site?

If so, you have the potential for one of the bigger workplace safety hazards in Ontario.

Confined spaces run the gamut from wells and storage facilities to pipelines, sewers, tanks, reservoirs and many others. Each type of confined space comes with an inherent set of risks – and responsibilities.

In this edition of the ACT workplace safety blog we’ll cover the nature of risk in confined spaces as well as the responsibilities for managers, supervisors and staff alike to create and maintain a safe workplace when confined spaces are involved.

What is a Confined Space? Why is Confined Space Entry Important?

The broad definition of a confined space is much as is sounds: a (partially or fully) enclosed space that poses a risk for any who enter.

Some of the aspects that further define confined spaces include:

• Confined spaces were not intended for ongoing occupancy (pass-through or one-off work only)
• Confined spaces pose hazards such as fire, drowning, asphyxiation, etc.
• Confined spaces have limited entry and egress points
• Confined spaces can be hard to access, reach and/or exit should rescue be necessary
• Confined spaces have further mechanical and operational risk

With the risks in mind, what about the actual types of confined spaces seen across Ontario?

Being a large province with a diversity of industry and commerce, Ontario workplaces feature a wide range of confined spaces, each with their own set of risk potential and need for safety awareness and safety training. Common confined spaces in Ottawa and across Ontario include:

• Sewers
• Pipelines
• Tanks
• Pits, ditches & trenches
• Reservoirs
• Boilers

Many other types of confined spaces exist in workplaces across Ontario.

Confined Space Entry Management and Safety Training & Awareness

If you are a manager or supervisor responsible for overseeing the safety of your team, and you have team members working in confined spaces, the onus is on you to ensure that confined spaces are:

• Clearly identified and marked as ‘Confined Space – Entry Restricted’
• Off limits to anyone who is not expressly enacted to be working in one
• Included in the safety training and safety manuals for all employees working in/near
• Part of a confined space rescue plan clearly understood by employees working in or nearby
• Made and enhanced to be as safe as possible for all work tasks associated with this confined space

As you can see, confined space entry management and confined space safety training are highly important elements to creating, maintaining and growing a culture and environment of workplace safety.

How ACT Can Help with Your Confined Space Management Safety Program

A leader in workplace safety training and safety consulting for companies, organizations, workplaces and job sites across Ontario, Advanced Consulting & Training has the right set of safety training and implementation capacity for confined space entry management in your workplace.

Hundreds of companies and work sites across the province of Ontario have entrusted us to provide safety training and other assistance & oversight in confined space entry management, confined space hazard & risk mitigation and other aspects of confined space safety.

Contact us today to find out more about how we can help make your organization a stronger, better safety leader through confined space entry management.