Confined Spaces in Construction
Confined Spaces and Permit Spaces
OSHA's Confined Space Standard for Construction Sites, also known as 29 CFR 1926.1200, establishes safety requirements for working in confined spaces in the construction industry.
Confined Space:
A confined space is a space that:
- is large enough and so arranged that an employee can bodily enter it;
- has limited or restricted means for entry and exit; and
- is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.
Click on the link below to see examples of confined spaces on construction sites.
| Sewers | Storm drains | Water mains |
| Lift stations | Tanks | Pits |
| Bins | Boilers | Incinerators |
| Scrubbers | Pier columns | Transformer vaults |
| Ducts | Manhole units | Shafts |
| Enclosed beams | Vessels | Digesters |
| Cesspools | Silos | Air receivers |
| Transformers | Turbines | Chillers |
| Crawl spaces | Attics | Basements |
Employers must evaluate all confined spaces to determine whether they are permit spaces but must take steps to protect workers only if a space is classified as a permit space.
Permit Space
The distinction between confined spaces and permit spaces is crucial to understanding what the standard requires. A permit space is a confined space that also meets one of the following conditions:
- 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
- Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard.
As mentioned above, employers must take steps to protect workers only if they work in a permit space. In addition, they must take effective steps to prevent workers they control from entering the space unless the workers are authorized to enter.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
11-1. In construction, a confined space would also be considered a permit space if it _____.
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