The Dangers of Confined Space Working
Working within confined spaces is a dangerous activity, putting the lives of staff and contractors at risk of injury or asphyxiation from any gasses that might have escaped into the area, as well as any number of additional scenarios or medical emergencies that may be present when working in these conditions.
What is a confined space?
A confined space is classed as any space of an enclosed nature where any danger of death exists, this could be from lack of oxygen, exposure to hazardous substances or gasses, or some form of serious injury exists from the conditions present.
Some examples of confined spaces would be, silos, storage tanks, enclosed drains and sewers.
Some places, upon the first inspection, may not seem like confined spaces initially, such as vats or open topped chambers, but all present a possible hazard to the worker inside.
What are the dangers?
Death or serious injury can happen not just to the individuals working in the space, but also to the people who attempt to carry out any rescue without the proper training and equipment.
Work in these dangerous environments presents many opportunities for serious injury or death.
Lack of oxygen can occur leaving the worker unconscious and in severe danger of suffocation, gasses and fumes can quite easily build up in these spaces causing asphyxiation.
Certain kinds of storage tanks pose a risk of fire or explosion if not properly de-gassed, flammable vapours could escape into the area, again posing the risk of fire and explosion, liquids can quite quickly fill the space causing drowning, and of course work in enclosed, confined spaces cause any heat to be excessive and these hot conditions can lead to sharp rises in body temperature, posing a risk to health.