Blog Post #1640 – Making Space for Safety

The intensity and variety of occupational hazards presented by confined space worksites demands robust legislation and diligence from employers – but is that enough?

By Jack Burton

The following report, as well as the previous statement, are those of Jack Burton, a freelance writer and regular contributor to the OH&S Canada magazine. (Thank you from HRS Group Inc.)

In December, a 54-year-old man was trapped underground and drowned while working on a ruptured pipe in Mississauga, Ont.

Incidents of workers being killed while in confined spaces remain all-too-common, with an average of 100 confined space fatalities happening across Canadian workplaces each year, according to WorkSafeBC.

Confined spaces exist across a variety of industries, such as construction, mining, and manufacturing, and come in numerous forms — including silos, pipelines, and furnaces. This range creates a number of distinct hazards, including suffocation, chemical volatility from pressure buildup, and fall risks or mobility issues.

Acts that protect workers

Provincial occupational health and safety legislation provides a number of regulations that employers must fulfill to ensure any confined spaces can be safely entered and operated within, no matter the nature of the space or the tasks being performed within it.

Among Ontario’s regulations, “one of them is that of course training needs to be provided for everybody who is going to be entering this space,” said Walter Yoo, senior associate lawyer at Monkhouse Law.

“The employer also has a duty to keep track of who’s been provided with that training, so that’s quite important in terms of a record keeping perspective, in order to ensure that the organization is compliant.”

In addition to training, “other legal requirements are that there needs to be adequate ventilation, regular testing for flammable materials and atmospheric pressure, along with proper means of communication to the outside,” Yoo said.

Integrating these elements is a requirement for all worksites to have an outlined safety plan for operating in these spaces, including a rescue plan should things go awry. Employees must be trained on proper protocols outlined in this plan before being allowed to enter or operate in any confined spaces present.

Making safety a part of the plan

Many provincial OHS acts require that a professional safety assessment be conducted to inform the safety plan for confined space workplaces.

This gives employers an understanding of the risks that are present and how to manage them, and in turn equips workers with an awareness of safely operating in the space.

“It’s really important to think of the conditions that might exist well before anybody goes into these types of spaces,” said Suzana Prpic, senior manager of prevention field services at WorkSafeBC. “Hazard assessments are required, and workers must not enter until they are complete. A confined space entry program will describe how to safely do this, and must be developed by a qualified person.”

A professional assessment provides the data necessary for developing a safety blueprint tailor-made for the demands of the space: “The location, the configuration or the use of the space are all taken into consideration during the assessment, and then professionals look at what conditions might be present when work is being conducted in that space,” Prpic said.

Even where compliance exists, the elevated hazards of confined spaces can still challenge the safety of an environment. Prpic believes a common mistake that employers make when it comes to ensuring safety in these spaces is insufficiently ensuring employees are fully aware of the dangers and perimeters of the confined space itself, and thus suggests additional training and ample signage.

“One issue is many workers really don’t realize that they’re entering into a confined space, so again, use proper signage that determines and communicates that hazard for every confined space,” she said. “Beyond that, it’s about communicating with workers so that they’re informed, educated, and engaged in terms of telling you if they find a new possible hazard in the space.”

Raising the standards

The heightened danger of confined spaces presents a level of threat to workplace safety that Andrew Mudge, executive-director of the Workers’ Health and Safety Centre, believes are not fully captured by existing occupational safety legislation.

“With limited routes of entry and exit, a lack of natural ventilation and sudden changes to atmospheric and physical conditions, confined spaces are among some of the most dangerous environments in which to work,” Mudge said. “Countless needless deaths in confined spaces tell us existing regulations are not enough on their own.”

Mudge spoke of the impact the organization has seen based on their successful advocacy toward Ontario’s mandated training standard for working at heights for construction workers as evidence that richer training expectations should extend to safety legislation for confined spaces as well.

“Prior to the province’s mandatory training standard for construction workers working at heights, adequate training was deemed acceptable for this hazardous work too.

We know better now,” Mudge said. “The evidence is in that our working at heights training standard saves lives, and I am confident similarly regulated confined space entry training would benefit workers as well.”

Complete report by Jack Burton

My opinion

This is an excellent report with special emphasis on knowledge, updated legislation, and continuous hazard assessments. Long ago, most companies would call 911 and believe that is it. As the MNR, Ministry of Natural Resources, once stated on their CSE permit, “911 is only the beginning”.

Well done, Mr. Burton. Your report was needed saying.

In Ontario, we have regulation 632/05. It has been updated a few times but gives a complete picture of all that is needed before, during and after a confined space entry.

By the way, the definition of a Confined Space is,

““confined space” means a fully or partially enclosed space,

(a) that is not both designed and constructed for continuous human occupancy, and

(b) in which atmospheric hazards may occur because of its construction, location or contents or because of work that is done in it.”

 

 

HRS Group Inc. has a great team that can help you with all your health and safety needs including ‘Confined Spaced Entry’ and ‘Lockout and Tagout’.

Contact Deborah toll free at 1-877-907-7744 or locally at 705-749-1259.

We can also be reached at 

Ensure your workplace is a safe place.

Remember – In Ontario, “ALL Accidents are Preventable”

‘Work’ and ‘Play’ safe.

Daniel L. Beal

CHSEP – Advanced Level
CEO & Senior Trainer
HRS Group Inc.