Very brief guide to work in confined spaces

Under the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997, employers must receive sufficient information, instruction and training so that they are aware, and ensure that:

• entry and work in confined spaces is prohibited unless it is not reasonably practicable for the work to be carried out from outside of the space, or the work cannot be avoided
• if entry into a confined space is unavoidable, then any entry or work in a confined space shall, as far as is reasonably practicable, be carried out in accordance with a (written) safe system of work
• the safe system of work controls the “relevant specified risks” (ie injury from fire or explosion; loss of consciousness arising from excessive heat, gas, fume or vapour, or lack of oxygen; drowning arising from an increase in the level of a liquid, or asphyxiation, as a result of a free-flowing solid, or entrapment preventing access to a respirable environment)
• in the event of an emergency, suitable and sufficient arrangements are in place for the rescue of persons working in a confined space (these arrangements must include measures to control the risks to those putting the rescue operation into place and the means to effect resuscitation, where necessary).

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Confined spaces - A couple of cases

Case 1
A silo cleaning company was fined £15,000 each of two breaches of the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 (with costs of £15,000) after pleading guilty to breaching Regulations 4(2) (failing to provide a safe system of work) and 5(1) (insufficient emergency arrangements). A worker who had not been trained in confined-space access and egress, nor provided with adequate equipment, died of heat exhaustion inside a feed silo.

Case 2
A metal-treatment company has been fined £533,000 (with costs of £200,000) following a double fatality at its manufacturing plant. The Crown Court heard that a works manager and a maintenance manager died of asphyxiation and were found unconscious on stairs leading to a concrete-lined pit after argon gas had leaked from a large pressure vessel. Following a number of false alarms, the pit’s oxygen alarm system had been silenced. This was coupled to the fact that the ventilation system was also not in operation after the machine had lost power during a power cut. The power cut happened a month prior to the incident and had not been switched back on. The HSE inspector commented “... the risks from confined spaces and asphyxiation due to the presence of argon were well-known to the company, which had experienced of a similar double fatality. Despite this warning the company failed to undertake a proper risk assessment for entry into the confined space. Although they had implemented a safe system of work and permit-to-work procedure, they had not properly trained employees in their use, or ensured that these systems and procedures were being followed through their auditing procedure.”

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