Confined Space Entry

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 an area that 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 additional 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
• Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard

TWU employees may NOT enter a confined space of either type without appropriate hands-on and online training. Permit-Required Confined Spaces may only be entered by trained personnel under a valid permit. Permits may be hard-copy (using the Confined Space Entry Permit) or digital (using the CampusOptics Confined Space Entry Permit).

For more information, refer to the Confined Space Entry Program and the Confined Space Entry Permit.