| OSHA Proposes New Rule on Confined Spaces in Construction
 More than 10 years in the making, a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on confined space safety in construction has finally been issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The lengthy proposal has been initially applauded by safety advocates and some employers, but it still must go through a revision process per comments received. (The agency is accepting public comments on the proposed standard until Jan. 28, 2008.) Most experts, including OSHA officials, do not believe that the rule will be finalized before the end of the Bush Administration.
Commenting about the benefits of a new confined space rule for the construction industry, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Edwin G. Foulke, Jr. said: “The existing construction standard for confined spaces would be updated and comprehensively revised to better protect construction employees from atmospheric and physical hazards. This rule will reduce the number of construction injuries and fatalities and greatly improve safety and health in the workplace.” OSHA has predicted that the finalized rule will prevent as many as six fatalities and 880 injuries a year.
Employers to Classify Most Hazards
Examples of confined spaces in construction include sewer manholes, water mains, storm drains, bins, elevator pits, transformer vaults and boilers. The NPRM includes a comprehensive step-by-step procedure that employers must follow in order to determine which of the four types of confined spaces are present at a particular jobsite and the best way to address the hazards associated with those spaces. According to the NPRM, employers would be charged with classifying all hazards except for the most dangerous confined space areas such as sewers, which would have a required classification.
Four Types of Confined Spaces
The existing general industry standard has only two classifications of confined spaces — confined space and permit-required confined space. The NPRM would include four classifications: permit-required confined spaces; continuous-system permit-required spaces; controlled-atmosphere confined spaces; and isolated-hazard confined spaces.
A permit-required confined space (PRCS) is a confined space that has any one of the following: a hazardous atmosphere that ventilation will not reduce to and maintain at a safe level; inwardly-converging, sloping or tapering surfaces that could trap or asphyxiate an employee; or an engulfment hazard or other physical hazard.
A continuous-system permit-required confined space (CS-PRCS) is a confined space that is a part of and contiguous with a larger confined space (for example, sewers) that the employer cannot isolate from the larger confined space. It is also subject to a potential hazard release from the larger confined space that would overwhelm personal protective equipment and/or hazard controls, resulting in a hazard that is immediately dangerous to life and health.
A controlled-atmosphere confined space (CACS) is a confined space where ventilation alone will control its atmospheric hazards at safe levels. Note that a confined space cannot be classified as a CACS if it has a physical hazard (unless that hazard has been isolated).
An isolated-hazard confined space (IHCS) is a confined space in which the employer has isolated all physical and atmospheric hazards. “Isolated” means the elimination or removal of a physical or atmospheric hazard by preventing its release into a confined space.
Required Sharing of Information and Training
Under the NPRM, a jobsite’s controlling contractor would be required to coordinate confined space entry operations “whether or not the controlling contractor has employees in the confined space.” This represents a departure from the existing general industry standard, which requires only that a host employer coordinate entry operations with another contractor when both employers have workers in or near permit-required confined spaces.
Additionally, the NPRM requires that the controlling employer share certain information with other employers on the jobsite before any worker enters the confined spaces. This includes information regarding the location of confined spaces, hazards that exist in each space, precautions taken to address those hazards and the classification of each confined space.
According to the NPRM, the controlling contractor would be in the best position to ensure effective sharing of information between contractors “whose work and associated hazards may affect one another.” When making this point, OSHA reiterated its legal authority under the “multi-employer worksite citation policy.” The policy allows OSHA, under certain conditions, to cite controlling contractors for violations committed by subcontractors.
The NPRM would also require training, not only in confined space entry, but also in confined space rescue.
The latter was included in response to the many tragic examples of multiple fatalities in a confined space resulting from workers being overwhelmed by hazardous gases while trying to help a fellow worker who had already lost consciousness.
Commenting on the new NPRM, NUCA Vice President of Safety George Kennedy had this to say: “It has been a long time in the making, but OSHA has finally released a proposed standard for confined space entry in construction. After the construction industry has had a chance to review and submit comments, the new regulation should help the industry better understand what they need to do in order to keep their workers safe when entering confined spaces. NUCA is currently giving the proposal a thorough evaluation, and will submit comments for OSHA’s consideration.”
If you have general comments on the issue of confined spaces or specific to the NPRM, you may contact either George Kennedy (gkennedy@nycap.rr.com) or Eben Wyman (eben@nuca.com). Eben Wyman is a NUCA Vice President of Government Relations. |
