Introduction:
The hazards of confined spaces are not new yet every year fatalities and injuries occur among workers who, during their jobs, are required to enter confined spaces. Entry into confined spaces may be for maintenance, repair, or statutory inspections. Accidents occur because of the inherent hazards or the induced hazards of wrong decisions. Personnel may have been insufficiently trained or have had their awareness blunted by experience.
Targeted Groups:
- Safety Personnel
- Planning Engineers
- Entry Supervisors
- Authorized Entrants
Course Objectives:
At the end of this course the participants will be able to:
- Become familiar with OSHA and Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 Approved Code of Practice, HSE
- Become familiar with the hazards of a confined space
- Take all the necessary precautions before entering
- Maintain the confined space as a safe place to work
- Familiarise the delegates with different methods of cleaning and isolation
Targeted Competencies:
- The OSHA standard for permit-required confined spaces
- The HSE Standard on confined space entry
- The inherent hazards of confined spaces
- The required precautions necessary before and during entry
- The risks of confined spaces
- A safe system of work for confined spaces
- The health hazards involved
- Common confined spaces tasks and precautions
- The training necessary for all involved in confined space entry
Course Content:
Unit 1: Introduction, Definitions & Risk Assessment:
- Introduction
- Definitions - OSHA Terminology
- Risk Assessment
- Reading PIDs
- Work Permit Systems
- Contractors
Unit 2: Occupational Health Hazards in Confined Spaces:
- Occupational Health Hazards
- Chemical substances Hazards
- Physical Hazards
- H2S and Pyrophoric iron
- Washing and Changing Facilities
- Contaminated Areas and Control
Unit 3: Atmospheric Testing, Cleaning and Emergency Arrangements:
- Atmosphere Testing
- Cleaning of Confined spaces before entry
- Gas freeing of Tanks, Vessels - Use and hazards of Steam water inert gas and chemicals
- Isolation - Positive Isolation, Lockout / Tag Out, Maintaining Isolation
- Personnel Training and Duties
- Rescue Arrangements
Unit 4: PPE, Common Tasks, and Maintaining Safety:
- PPE Requirements
- Entry with Breathing Apparatus / Entry without Breathing Apparatus
- Ventilation & Lighting
- Common Maintenance task and problems in confined spaces – Furnaces, Vessels, Tanks
- Check Lists
- Boxing Up, Hand Over and De-Isolation
Unit 5: Table Top Exercise:
A desktop syndicate exercise to plan an entry into a confined space. The syndicates will be given a PID and written details of the process. They will be required to program the steps and precautions for entry and cleaning before maintenance, and the precautions for the maintenance tasks to be undertaken – de-pressure, initial isolation, gas freeing and precautions, final positive isolation, and isolation positioning, cordoning off the area, PPE required, etc.
- Presentation and discussion