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816 Confined Space Safety in Construction
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Air-monitoring Equipment

Confined space entrants must be trained and be experts in the use air monitoring equipment to test for hazardous atmospheres.

Air monitoring equipment designed for confined spaces
Confined space entrants must be experts in using monitoring test equipment in confined spaces.

They must be able to calibrate the meter and use it according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Inaccurate instruments can expose workers to excessive levels of toxic gas or an oxygen-deficient atmosphere. The only way to guarantee that an instrument will detect gas accurately is to test it every day before you use it using a "bump test."

A bump test verifies that an air-monitoring meter is properly calibrated. You perform a bump test by exposing the meter to a known concentration of test gas. Compare the instrument reading to the actual quantity of gas present. If the instrument's response is within an acceptable tolerance range of the actual concentration, then the meter is calibrated properly.

Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.

1-6. What is the only way to guarantee that an air-monitoring meter will detect gas accurately?