Confined Space Program

Policy 303.23

1 Introduction

1.1 The North Carolina Department of Labor, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSHA) Confined Space Standard requires employers to implement practices and procedures to protect employees from hazards of entry into and work within confined spaces. The specific standards to which Appalachian State University must comply can be found at North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Standards for General Industry: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29, Part 146, "Permit-required confined spaces" (29 CFR 1910.146), as adopted in the North Carolina Administrative Code 07F.0101, with amendments. For the remainder of this document, this regulation will be referred to as the "Confined Space Standard" or "1910.146."

1.2 It is the policy of Appalachian State University to provide a safe working environment for its employees and to conduct work in accordance with all applicable North Carolina Department of Labor, Division of Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSHA) standards; Office of State Personnel safety policies and procedures; and University of North Carolina System safety policies and procedures.

2 Scope

2.1 The purpose of this Program is to ensure that confined spaces under the control of Appalachian State University are identified, evaluated, and entered safely.

3 Definitions

=== Acceptable Entry Conditions

1. The conditions that are required to exist in a permit space (these will be listed on the permit). These are the conditions necessary to ensure that employees involved with a permit space entry can do so safely.

Attendant

The trained individual stationed outside the permit-required confined space who monitors the Authorized Entrants and who performs all Attendant duties for the duration of the entry operations. For more Also details the "[#toc3 Responsibilities]" section of this document.

Authorized Entrant

The trained individual who enters the permit-required confined space and who has obtained a permit signed by the Entry Supervisor. Also see the "Responsibilities" section of this document.

Blanking or Blinding

The absolute closure of a pipe, line, or duct by the fastening of a solid plate (such as a spectacle blind or a skillet blind) that completely covers the bore and that is capable of withstanding the maximum pressure of the pipe, line, or duct without no leakage beyond the plate.

Bump Test (or Field Function Test)

A process of checking atmospheric testing equipment to ensure that it is detecting the gases it is designed to detect. Involves quickly exposing the equipment to contaminant gases while watching the equipment to see that it responds by showing an increase in concentration.

Calibration

A manufacturer-specified process of checking atmospheric testing equipment to ensure that it is measuring air concentrations properly. Involves first "zeroing" the equipment, then carefully exposing the equipment to known concentrations of gases contained in a compressed gas cylinder. Not the same as a "field function test" or "bump test."

Confined Space

A space that meets all three of the following conditions:

1.Is large enough for a person to bodily enter and perform assigned work. 2.Has limited or restricted means of entry or exit (i.e., exiting the space requires action other than normal walking; for example crawling, squatting, climbing, bending, or use of devices). 3.Is not designed for employees to continually occupy the space.

Some common confined spaces present at Appalachian State University include: manholes; boilers; large air handlers; elevator shafts and pits; large piles of gravel, salt, or sand; storage vaults or silos; sump pits; and underground tunnels and vaults. These are only a few examples.

Double block and bleed

The closure of a line, duct, or pipe by using lockout-tagout (LOTO) to close two in-line valves, and by using LOTO to keep open a drain or vent valve located between the two closed valves.

Emergency

Any occurrence or any event inside or outside the permit space that could endanger entrants. The failure of any hazard control or monitoring equipment is an emergency.

Engulfment

The surrounding and effective capture of a person by a liquid or finely divided (flowable) solid substance that can be inhaled to cause death by filling or plugging the respiratory system (suffocation), or that can exert enough force on the body to cause death by strangulation, constriction, or crushing. Common engulfment hazards include soil (in pits or large stockpiles), road salt/sand mixtures (in silos or large stockpiles), and gravel (in storage vaults or silos, or large stockpiles).

Entry

The action by which a person passes through an opening into a permit-required confined space. Entry includes ensuing work activities in that space. "Entry" has occurred as soon as any part of the entrant's body breaks the plane of an opening into the space.

Entry permit (or simply "the permit")

The written or printed document that is provided by the employer to allow and control entry into a permit space. The permit must contain the information specified in 29 CFR 1910.146(f). Appalachian State University's entry permit is included as Appendix A to this Program.

Entry Supervisor

The person with the authority and responsibility to:

1.Determine that acceptable entry conditions are present within a confined space under his/her responsibility or control; 2.Allow entry into the space (by signing a permit); 3.Oversee entry operations; and 4.End the entry (by terminating the permit).

The Entry Supervisor will usually be one of the Shop Supervisors, but may also be other persons who have been trained as confined space Entry Supervisors and who have the authority to direct the actions of Authorized Entrants and Attendants.

The Authorized Entrant or the Attendant may act simultaneously as both Entrant/Attendant and the Entry Supervisor for a given confined space entry, as long as the Entrant/Attendant also has Entry Supervisor training.

For details on Entry Supervisor responsibilities, see the "Responsibilities" section of this document. In summary, the Entry Supervisor is a trained individual with the responsibility to: Determine that acceptable entry conditions are present within a confined space under his/her jurisdiction; Allow entry into the space (by signing a permit); Oversee entry operations; and End the entry (by terminating the permit).

Equipment Calibrator

A person who has appropriate training and experience to perform and document manufacturer-required calibrations (usually monthly calibrations) of atmospheric testing equipment. The Equipment Calibrator will usually also be a Shop/Area Supervisor.

Hazardous atmosphere

An atmosphere that may expose employees to the risk of death, incapacitation, impairment of the ability to escape unaided from a confined space, injury, or acute illness. Hazardous atmospheres may be created by conditions such as, but not limited to:

1.Flammable gases, vapors, or mists in excess of ten percent (10%) of their lower flammable limit (LFL). (Note, another term for LFL is "LEL" or "Lower Explosive Limit"). 2.Airborne combustible dust at a concentration that:a.Meets or exceeds the dust's LFL; and/or b.Obscures vision at a distance of five feet or less.

3.Atmospheric oxygen concentration below 19.5 percent or above 23.5 percent. 4.Noise, ionizing radiation, or chemical substances at atmospheric concentrations at or above the Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) in 1910 Subparts G or Z, as amended by 13 NCAC 7F.0100. 5.Chemical substances that are capable of causing death, incapacitation, impairment of ability to self-rescue, injury, or acute illness due to its health effects can create a "hazardous atmosphere."

If, for example, the PEL of a substance in a confined space is based on acute, serious health effects that may not occur until hours after the exposure (e.g. hydrogen sulfide gas), then the presence of that substance at or above the Action Level or PEL means the confined space has a "hazardous atmosphere." On the other hand, if, for example, the Permissible Exposure Limit of a substance in a confined space is based solely on long-term health effects (e.g. asbestos), then the mere presence of that substance does not mean the confined space has a "hazardous atmosphere."1 However, that substance may still present a "recognized serious" health hazard that makes the confined space a Permit Space (e.g. non-intact asbestos). In addition, any regulations specific to that substance (such as NCOSHA Asbestos Operations & Maintenance requirements) still apply. 6.Any other atmospheric condition that is immediately dangerous to life and health. Excessive steam in a confined space, for example, creates a level of heat stress that can be immediately dangerous to life and health.

NOTE: For air contaminants for which NCOSHA has not determined a dose or permissible exposure limit, other sources of information, such as Material Safety Data Sheets, published information, and internal documents can provide guidance in establishing acceptable atmospheric conditions.

Hot work

Operations capable of providing a source of ignition. For example, riveting, soldering, welding, cutting, burning, brazing, and heating. A hot work permit is employer's written authorization to perform hot work. Appalachian State University's Hot Work Program can be found at http://www.safety.appstate.edu/hotwork.html.

Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health (IDLH)

Any condition that:

1.Poses an immediate or delayed threat to life; 2.Would cause irreversible adverse health effects; or 3.Would interfere with an individual's ability to escape unaided from a confined space.

NOTE: Some materials (for example, hydrogen sulfide gas, hydrogen fluoride gas, and cadmium vapor) may cause mild or severe short-term effects that may stop on their own, but are followed by sudden, possibly fatal collapse 12-72 hours after exposure. The victim "feels normal" after recovering from the short-term, immediate effects until hours later when s/he collapses. When they are or may be present in hazardous quantities, such materials are considered to be IDLH.

Inerting

The replacement of a combustible atmosphere in a permit space with enough of a noncombustible gas (such as nitrogen or argon) to render the permit space's atmosphere noncombustible. NOTE: This procedure produces IDLH entry conditions in the permit space because it also displaces oxygen with the noncombustible gas, resulting in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere.

Isolation

The process by which a Permit Space is removed from service and completely protected against the release of energy and material into the space by such means as: blanking or blinding (defined above); mis-aligning or removing sections of lines, pipe, or ducts; a double block and bleed system; lockout or tagout of all energy sources; or blocking or disconnecting all mechanical linkages.

Non-Permit Confined Space ("Non-Permit Space")

A confined space that does not contain any actual or potential hazards capable of causing death or serious physical harm. Some telecommunications manholes and vaults are currently the only known non-permit confined spaces at Appalachian State University.

Oxygen Deficient

A concentration of less than 19.5 percent by volume in the air, as measured by an oxygen measuring device.

Oxygen Enriched (or "Oxygen Maximum")

A concentration of more than 23.5 percent by volume in the air, as measured by an oxygen measuring device.

Permit-Required Confined Space (or "Permit Space")

A confined space which has any one or more of the following characteristics:

1.Contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere. Three of the most common atmospheric conditions that constitute hazards are oxygen deficiency, combustible gases and vapors, and toxic gases and vapors. 2.Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant. Some common materials that can engulf and kill are soil, gravel, sand, and road salt. 3.Has an internal configuration that could trap or asphyxiate an entrant, such as inwardly converging walls or a floor that slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross-section. 4.Contains any other recognized serious safety and/or health hazard, such as active (non-isolated) steam lines. 5.Has been designated as a Permit-required Confined Space by Appalachian State University.

Permit-required confined space program (or "permit space program")

This is Appalachian State University's overall written program for controlling (and, where appropriate, for protecting employees from) permit space hazards, and for regulating employee entry into permit spaces.

Permit system

Appalachian State University's written procedure for preparing and issuing permits for entry and for returning the permit space to service following termination of entry. The University's permit system is described in this written Program.

Prohibited Condition

Any condition in a Permit Space that is not allowed by the permit during the period when entry is authorized.

Qualified Person

A person who has been trained, equipped, and authorized to perform atmospheric testing on the specific equipment available to him or her. The Qualified Person may also serve as the Authorized Entrant, the Attendant, or the Supervisor, if s/he has been trained and equipped to perform those duties.

Rescue Service

The entity designated to rescue employees from Permit Spaces. At Appalachian State University, the Rescue Service is the Town of Boone Fire Department. ASU employees shall not enter confined spaces to perform or assist in rescue.

Retrieval System

The equipment used for non-entry rescue of persons from Permit Spaces. At a minimum, this includes a chest or full-body harness, wristlets if appropriate, a retrieval line, and a lifting device or anchor.

Testing

The process by which the hazards that may confront entrants of a permit space are identified and evaluated. Testing includes the act of specifying the tests that are to be performed in the permit space. Testing enables employers both to create and put into practice the control measures necessary to protect Authorized Entrants, and to determine if acceptable entry conditions are present immediately prior to, and during, entry.

Zeroing

A process of making sure that atmospheric testing equipment is exposed to absolutely no contaminants so that when its scale measures "0," it is actually "seeing" no contaminant. Zeroing must be done as part of calibrating and "bump-testing" gas detection equipment.