Plan, manage and review legislative and safety compliance for work in confined spaces

URN: EUSC06
Business Sectors (Suites): Confined Spaces
Developed by: Energy & Utility Skills
Approved on: 2020

Overview

This standard is about managing legislative and safety compliance for work in confined spaces. A confined space is any place, including any chamber, tank, vat, silo, pit, trench, pipe, sewer, flue, well, or other similar space in which, by virtue of its enclosed nature, there arises a reasonably foreseeable specified risk. Risks could lead to serious injury or death through fire, explosion, gas, fumes, vapour, lack of oxygen, rising levels of liquid, asphyxiation, or entrapment by free flowing solids.
It involves planning, organising, and managing work safely in confined spaces including legislative roles and responsibilities, health and safety considerations, and equipment requirements. It includes:
applying relevant legislative and industry confined spaces requirements
developing risk assessments
determining suitable control measures
developing safe systems of work
establishing effective procedures for using permits to work
developing effective emergency arrangements
implementing and maintaining effective arrangements for document storage, review, and audit
This standard is for managers that are responsible for organizing, planning, and managing legislative and safety compliance for work in confined spaces. The manager may or may not supervise the actual job.


Performance criteria

You must be able to:

  1. Identify work activities that involve confined spaces.
  2. Determine the classification of confined spaces from their description and work tasks when relevant.
  3. Identify competences required to develop effective safe systems of work to control work activities in confined spaces.
  4. Ascertain legislative and organisational requirements for work activities being undertaken in confined spaces.
  5. Determine the minimum numbers of persons required to undertake work activities in confined spaces.
  6. Develop and implement suitable and sufficient safe systems of work for confined spaces.
  7. Identify the competencies of people required to work within each identified confined space.
  8. Determine when and how permits to work are to be used to control work in confined spaces.
  9. Confirm all relevant people understand their roles and responsibilities.
  10. Monitor, audit, and review safe systems of work as and when required.
  11. Identify hazards associated with working in confined spaces including who might be harmed and how.
  12. Evaluate risks and identify control measures required to mitigate them.
  13. Record the findings of risk assessments in appropriate documentation.
  14. Review and update risk assessments as required to maintain health and safety for work in confined spaces.
  15. Use risk assessments to determine the type and number of control measures for given hazards at confined spaces to ensure health and safety is maintained.
  16. Determine the necessary tests required to verify the effectiveness of control measures for the hazards at confined spaces.
  17. Identify the procedures required for safe working at confined spaces.
  18. Determine the records associated with the control measures and the frequency of their renewal and review.
  19. Determine the composition, competences, physical capabilities, and numbers of work teams to accomplish work at confined spaces using identified controls.
  20. Identify the specialised equipment to control found and anticipated hazards.
  21. Determine and communicate the order in which control of hazards is established, verified, and maintained to the work team.
  22. Establish effective arrangements for dealing with emergency situations that may arise.
  23. Determine the scope of work requiring the permits to work at confined spaces.
  24. Identify the personnel necessary to operate control provided by permits to work.
  25. Complete necessary records and documents required by permits to work.
  26. Establish procedure to ensure work teams are briefed on their role(s) and duties under permits to work.
  27. Determine emergency responses required for given risk assessed tasks at confined spaces.
  28. Determine suitable and sufficient first aid arrangements.
  29. Ensure all personnel involved have relevant competency and authorization for their role.
  30. Ensure that emergency response procedures and first aid arrangements are understood by work teams and any third party assistance.
  31. Complete confined spaces documentation and retain according to legislative and organisational requirements.
  32. Review documents used for work activities in confined spaces to ensure accurate records are maintained.
  33. Undertake audits of the management system used to control work activities in confined spaces to ensure that statutory compliance is maintained.
  34. Maintain qualifications and ongoing training for this role in line with legislative requirements.

Knowledge and Understanding

You need to know and understand:

  1. The main principles of current confined spaces, health and safety, and environmental legislation and regulations.
  2. Approved codes of practice, guidance, and standards for working safely in confined spaces.
  3. The range of risk assessments that may need to be produced to comply with work activities being undertaken in a confined space.
  4. The legislative duty placed upon employer, manager, supervisor, and operator associated with confined space work activities.
  5. Organisational requirements relevant to confined space work activities.
  6. The 5-step process to producing risk assessments.
  7. The hazards indigenous to confined space when undertaking work activities.
  8. The hazards imported to confined space when undertaking work activities.
  9. The hierarchy of hazard control required by statutes.
  10. Classification schemes for the complexity of entry.
  11. How to determine severity of hazards and levels of risk.
  12. Groups of people likely to be affected by work activities associated with confined spaces.
  13. The competencies required for personnel involved in confined space work activities including medical exclusions, human factors, and ergonomic issues.
  14. Types of ventilation systems including circumstances in which their use would be most effective.
  15. Environmental monitoring equipment available for confined space work activities.
  16. Environmental monitoring regimes required to enable work to be undertaken safely.
  17. Equipment available for accessing confined spaces.
  18. The equipment and tools compatible for the environment being worked in.
  19. How to check that equipment and tools are fit-for-purpose.
  20. The respiratory protective equipment available for confined space work activities.
  21. The personal protective equipment available for confined space work activities.
  22. Relevant measures for effectively controlling “specified risks” associated with confined space work activities.
  23. How to evaluate the effectiveness of existing and proposed control measures.
  24. Decontamination procedures.
  25. The elements needed for a safe system and methods of work.
  26. Information sources available to assist in developing a safe method of work.
  27. Sequence in which confined space work activities are to be carried out.
  28. Plant and equipment required to undertake work activities in confined spaces.
  29. Roles and responsibilities of those involved in confined space work activities.
  30. Communication methods suitable for confined space work activity.
  31. When permits to work should be issued.
  32. How to issue permits to work.
  33. Relevance of permits to work for confined space activities.
  34. The elements needed for permits to work.
  35. Roles and responsibilities of personnel involved in confined space activities under a permit to work system.
  36. How emergency situations can arise in a confined space.
  37. Roles and responsibilities of personnel involved in confined space work activities should an emergency arise.
  38. Communications and reporting systems for emergency situations.
  39. Procedures for dealing with emergencies.
  40. The rescue equipment that may be used in confined spaces.
  41. The first aid measures that may be used in confined spaces.
  42. Procedures for dealing with the aftermath of an emergency.
  43. Reporting systems for routine work activities and resolving problems.
  44. Processes used to determine the frequency of reviewing risk assessments.
  45. Required frequency of ongoing training for this role and how and where to access it.

Scope/range


Scope Performance


Scope Knowledge


Values


Behaviours


Skills


Glossary


Links To Other NOS


External Links


Version Number

2

Indicative Review Date

2025

Validity

Current

Status

Original

Originating Organisation


Original URN

EUSCS06

Relevant Occupations

Construction, Planning and the Built Environment

SOC Code

5319

Keywords

"Key words Confined space; high risk; medium risk; low risk; specified risk; plan; organise; manage; review; legislative compliance; safety compliance; safe systems of work; control measures; permits to work; emergency arrangements; procedures; risk asses"