Hazards in a Confined Space:
1. Poor Indoor Air Quality – insufficient amount of oxygen for the worker to breathe. The normal atmosphere’s oxygen content is 21%, below 19.5% becomes unsafe.
2. A Poisonous Environment – Do you know if a poisonous substance is in your atmosphere? Is natural ventilation alone, going to be enough to maintain breathable air quality?
3. Fire hazards and Ignition Sources – Dust, fumes, vapours, and gases, where do they stand on your “Explosive Range” list?
4. Process Hazards – Sometimes the process can be the hazard based on the environment and conditions.
5. Safety Hazards – Such as moving parts of equipment, structural hazards, entanglement, slips, trips, falls, etc.
6. Shifting or Collapse of Bulk Material – Trenches, underground tanks or pits.
7. Barrier Failure – Resulting in a flood or release.
8. Physical Agents – Such as noise, vibration, radiation and temperature.
9. Chemical Exposure and Biological Hazards
10. Visibility