osha confined space rescue team requirements

Practice rescue exercises should be conducted annually. OSHA Standards 1910.146(k)(2)(iii) and 1926.1211(b)(3) The employer must ensure that at least one member of the rescue team or service holding a current certification in basic first aid and CPR is available.

Rescue service personnel must have personal protective and rescue equipment, including respirators, and should have received training on using the equipment.Īll rescuers should be trained in first aid and CPR, and at a minimum one rescue team member must be currently certified in first aid and CPR. Pre-rescue planning, communication, and effective coordination of rescue activities are critical in the event that a life-threatening incident should occur inside of a permit space.Ĭonfined space rescue responders must be capable of responding to an emergency in a timely manner. OSHA Standards 1910.146(i)(7) and 1926.1209(g) A duty of the confined space attendant is to summon rescue and other emergency services as soon as the attendant determines that authorized entrants may need assistance to escape from permit space hazards. If any entrant suffers an injury or illness and is unable to exit the space without help, the attendant will initiate a rescue. Whenever a worker is in a permit-required confined space, there must be an attendant outside the space who must maintain communication with all entrants and keep track of their condition. Wristlets may be used if the employer can demonstrate that the use of a chest or full body harness is not feasible or creates a greater hazard. The other end of the retrieval line will be attached to a mechanical device or a fixed point outside the permit space.Ī mechanical device must be available to retrieve someone from vertical type permit spaces more than five feet deep.

Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazardĪuthorized entrants who enter a permit-required confined space must wear a chest or full body harness with a retrieval line attached to the center of their backs near shoulder level or above their heads.

Is configured in a way that could cause a person to be trapped or suffocate.

Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing an entrant.

Contains or has a potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere.

OSHA Standards 1910.146(d)(9) and 1926.1204(i) The employer shall develop and implement procedures for summoning rescue and emergency services, for rescuing entrants from permit spaces, for providing necessary emergency services to rescued employees, and for preventing unauthorized personnel from attempting a rescue.Ī confined space is large enough for a worker to enter, has limited means of entry or exit, and is not designed for continuous occupancy.Ī non-permit confined space does not contain or have the potential to contain any hazard capable of causing death or serious physical harm.īut, a permit-required confined space, also referred to as a “permit space,” has one or more of the following characteristics:

Permit-required confined spaces can present conditions that are immediately dangerous to workers’ lives or health if not properly identified, evaluated, tested, and controlled.Ī rescue plan must be created and implemented to ensure everyone at the job site is prepared in advance if there is an emergency in a permit-required confined space.

Osha confined space rescue team requirements