General Requirements
OSHA's standard, 29 CFR 1926 Subpart AA, Confined Spaces in Construction, sets forth requirements to protect employees on construction worksites with confined spaces. Let's look at a summary of OSHA 1926.1203, General requirements.
Per OSHA 1926.1203(b), if the workplace contains one or more permit spaces, the employer who identifies, or who receives notice of, a permit space must:
- Inform exposed employees by posting danger signs or by any other means, of the existence, location, and dangers posed by each permit space; and
- Inform, in a manner other than posting, authorized employee representatives and controlling contractors about each permit space.
If employees will enter a permit space, the employer must have a written permit space program per OSHA 1926.1204 at the construction site. The written program must be made available prior to and during entry operations for inspection by employees and their authorized representatives.
An employer may use the alternate procedures for entering a permit space only under the conditions set forth in OSHA 1926.1203(e)(1).
When there are changes in a non-permit confined space that might increase the hazards or some indicate that the initial evaluation of the space may not have been adequate, a competent person must reevaluate that space and, if necessary, reclassify it as a permit-required confined space per OSHA 1926.1203(g) requirements.
Only a competent person may reclassify a permit-required confined space as a non-permit confined space if they determine that all the OSHA 1926.1203(g) requirements have been fulfilled.
Before entry operations begin, the host employer must provide confined space location, previous entry, and hazard information, if it has it, to the controlling contractor OSHA 1926.1203(h) requirements.
If there is no controlling contractor at the worksite, the host employer or other employer who arranges to have employees perform permit space entry, will perform that role per OSHA 1926.1203(i).
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
5-2. If employees will enter a permit space on a construction worksite, the employer must _____.
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