Confined Space Training: Permit Before You Enter

5-minute toolbox talk · 2:26 video + discussion, quiz and sign-off · free printable sheet with sign-off table.

Key points

• A confined space is large enough to enter, has a small way in or out, and is not made for people to stay in. Examples: tanks, pits, silos, vaults, manholes and pipelines.
• A permit space has a hazard. Examples: bad air, material that can bury you, walls that close in, or machines.
• Do not enter a permit space without training and a valid permit.
• The air must be tested for oxygen, flammable gas and toxic gas before entry and during the work.
• An attendant stays outside and keeps contact with you the whole time.

Step by step

1. Read the permit. Know the hazards, the controls and the time limit.
2. Test the air. Then keep the monitor on while you work.
3. Use the equipment on the permit: ventilation, fall protection, lighting and radio.
4. Keep contact with the attendant by sight, phone or radio.
5. Leave immediately if the attendant tells you to, if an alarm sounds, or if you feel unwell.

Never

• Never enter to rescue a person unless you are a trained rescuer with the correct equipment.
• Never enter if nobody signed the permit or if the permit time is finished.
• Never trust your nose to find bad air.

Who needs this training

• Entrants — the workers who go into the space.
• Attendants — the workers who stay outside, watch the entrants and call for rescue. They never go in.
• Entry supervisors — the people who check the conditions and sign the permit.
• Everyone working near tanks, pits, silos, vaults, sewers, boilers or crawl spaces, so they know not to enter without a permit.

What the rule says

In US general industry, OSHA 29 CFR 1910.146 covers permit-required confined spaces. Construction has its own rule, 29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA.

A confined space is large enough to enter, has limited ways in or out, and is not designed for people to stay in. It is a permit-required space if it has, or could have, a hazardous atmosphere, a risk of being engulfed, a shape that could trap a person, or any other serious hazard.

Workers must be trained before their first entry duties, when their duties change, and when the hazards or the procedure change. Rescue teams must practise a rescue at least once every 12 months.

Common mistakes

• Entering "just for a second" without testing the air.
• Testing in the wrong order. Test oxygen first, then flammable gases, then toxic gases.
• Testing only at the top. Some gases are heavier than air and collect at the bottom.
• The attendant leaving the entrance, or going in to help.
• No rescue plan before entry, or relying on calling emergency services who may take too long.

Talk about it

1. Which spaces at our site are permit spaces?
2. Who is our rescue team, and how do we call them?
3. What are the signs of low oxygen?

Quick check

Questions people ask

Based on OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.146; OSHA QuickCard: Permit-Required Confined Spaces. This talk is a summary for training. Your site's written procedure and your supervisor's instructions come first.