Maintaining health and safety in the workplace is a complex but crucial process for guaranteeing a safe working environment and protecting the physical and mental integrity of employees.
This process involves thoroughly identifying the hazards and risks associated with work activities, assessing the risks according to their likelihood of occurrence and severity, and then mitigating the risks by implementing preventive and corrective measures to reduce or eliminate them.
However, although there are several professional fields that require special attention, one of the areas considered critical in the field of occupational safety is work in confined spaces. That said, it is necessary to explore the concept of working in confined spaces more comprehensively.
According to OSHA 1993, the concept of “confined space” is associated with a “space or place whose entry or exit is limited or restricted, allowing only a worker to enter and perform a particular activity, and not designed for human occupancy”.
This concept can be defined more generally as “a place not designed for human occupation, which is characterised by having an entrance and exit that is difficult to access and, as the name implies, “confined”, which does not allow air to circulate naturally, giving room for possible contaminants to occupy the place.
To be considered a confined space, the following characteristics must be evident:
- Physical confinement, which can be narrow, cramped or have shapes and dimensions that make movement within it difficult or uncomfortable;
- It has a configuration that makes it difficult to enter, stay in or leave to carry out specific tasks;
- Difficulty in ventilation and limited air circulation, which can result in a concentration of pollutants or a lack of oxygen.
However, even if they are identified as places not designed for human occupation, there are circumstances in which entry is necessary for specific reasons, involving the carrying out of activities such as:
Maintenance: this involves visually checking and assessing the condition of confined spaces in order to ensure that they function correctly and safely. A practical example of this is chemical storage tanks, which periodically require maintenance to guarantee their structural integrity and prevent leaks;
Waste removal or cleaning: some confined spaces can accumulate waste or unwanted substances, so this removal or cleaning process aims to eliminate the respective substances or waste;
Installation of equipment or devices: this involves the installation or replacement of equipment or devices with the aim of maintaining or improving operations. An example of this is the need to replace an agitator in a chemical reactor;
Sampling or monitoring: this activity consists of collecting information on the atmospheric and environmental conditions of a confined space. As an illustration of its applicability, let’s take the need to maintain a treatment tank at a water treatment plant. Before entering a treatment tank, it is necessary to sample the air to check the levels of gases such as Methane (CH4), Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) and Oxygen (O2), in order to ensure that the conditions are safe for entry.
It can therefore be concluded that there are valid reasons for carrying out work in confined spaces. On the other hand, these confined areas present various risks for workers, including the risk of asphyxiation, physical confinement, the presence of toxic or flammable gases, the risk of explosion or fire, among others.
As such, it is imperative that workers carrying out activities in confined spaces are properly trained so that they acquire the necessary understanding, knowledge and skills to carry out these activities safely.
Confined space safety training is considered to be extremely important, as it provides workers with the necessary knowledge about the specific risks involved. By understanding the risks involved, workers will be better prepared to adopt preventive measures and make safe decisions while in confined spaces.
In addition, the training teaches workers how to correctly select, use and maintain the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), as well as the correct procedures for entering and exiting confined spaces, ensuring that the process is carried out safely and effectively. Like any other type of work, confined space work also involves emergency situations, and with training, workers will be instructed and trained on how to proceed in the event of a rescue and provide first aid.
In short, with well-trained workers, the risk of incidents and accidents in confined spaces is significantly reduced, thus guaranteeing everyone’s safety.
