Many workplaces at TWU contain spaces that are considered "confined" because their configurations hinder the activities of employees who must enter, work in, and exit them. A confined space is defined as:
- Is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work,
- Has limited or restricted means for entry or exit, AND
- Is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.
Confined spaces include, but are not limited to underground vaults, tunnels, tanks, crawl spaces, storage bins, manholes, pits, silos, process vessels, and pipelines.
A "Permit-Required Confined Space" is a confined space that has one or more of the following characteristics and therefore requires a permit prior to entry:
- Contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere,
- Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant,
- Has an internal configuration such that an entrant could be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor, which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section, OR
- Contain any other recognized serious safety or health hazard.
TWU employees may NOT enter a confined space of either type without appropriate classroom and hands-on training. Permit-Required Confined Spaces may only be entered by trained personnel under a valid permit.
Below are links to the written Confined Space Entry Program for TWU, and a copy of the confined space entry permit.
page last updated 5/6/2013 7:55 AM