Washington Administrative Code › Title 296 - Labor and Industries, Department of › Chapter 296-307 - Safety standards for agriculture › SPECIALIZED OPERATIONS › Part Y-8 - Confined Spaces › Permit Entry Procedures › Section 296-307-656 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
Acceptable entry conditions.
The conditions
						that must exist in a permit-required confined space to allow safe entry and
						work.
Attendant.
An individual stationed outside
						one or more permit-required confined spaces to monitor the entrants.
Blanking or blinding.
The absolute closure
						of a pipe, line, or duct by fastening a solid plate (such as a spectacle blind
						or a skillet blind) that completely covers the bore. It is capable of
						withstanding the maximum pressure of the pipe, line, or duct with no leakage
						beyond the plate.
Confined space.
A space that is
all
of the following:
(a) Large enough and arranged so an employee could fully
						enter the space and work.
(b) Has limited or restricted entry or exit. Examples of
						spaces with limited or restricted entry are tanks, vessels, silos, storage
						bins, hoppers, vaults, excavations, and pits.
(c) Not primarily designed for human occupancy.
Double block and bleed.
The closure of a
						line, duct, or pipe by closing and locking or tagging two in-line valves and by
						opening and locking or tagging a drain or vent valve in the line between the
						two closed valves.
Emergency.
Any occurrence (including any
						failure of hazard control or monitoring equipment) or event internal or
						external to the permit-required confined space that could endanger authorized
						entrants.
Engulfment.
The surrounding capture of a
						person by a liquid or finely divided (flowable) solid substance that can be
						inhaled to cause death by filling or plugging the respiratory system or that
						can exert enough force on the body to cause death by strangulation,
						constriction, or crushing.
Enter (entry).
The action by which a person
						passes through an opening into a permit-required confined space and includes
						work activities in that space. Entry is considered to have occurred as soon as
						any part of the entrant's body breaks the plane of an opening into the
						space.
Note:
If the opening is large enough for the worker to
								fully enter the space, a permit is required even for partial body entry.
								Permits are not required for partial body entry where the opening is not large
								enough for full entry, although other rules such as lock-out-tagout, WAC
								296-307-320
								or respiratory hazards, WAC
								296-307-624 may apply.
Entrant.
An employee who is authorized by
						the employer to enter a permit-required confined space.
Entry permit (permit).
The written or
						printed document that is provided by the employer to allow and control entry
						into a permit-required confined space and that contains the information
						required in WAC
						296-307-650, Permit entry
						procedures.
Entry supervisor.
The person (such as the
						employer, crew leader, or crew chief) responsible for:
(a) Determining if acceptable entry conditions are
						present at a permit-required confined space where entry is planned;
(b) Authorizing entry and overseeing entry operations;
						and
(c) Terminating entry as required.
Hazardous atmosphere.
An atmosphere that may
						expose employees to the risk of death, incapacitation, impairment of ability to
						self-rescue (that is, escape unaided from a permit-required confined space),
						injury, or acute illness caused by one or more of the following:
(a) Flammable gas, vapor, or mist in excess of ten
						percent of its lower flammable limit (LFL).
(b) Airborne combustible dust at a concentration that
						meets or exceeds its LFL.
Note:
This concentration may be approximated as a
								condition in which the dust obscures vision at a distance of five feet (1. 52
								m) or less.
(c) Atmospheric oxygen concentration below 19.5 percent
						or above 23.5 percent.
(d) Atmospheric concentration of any substance which may
						exceed a permissible exposure limit. For additional information about
						atmospheric concentration, see chapter 296-62 WAC, Parts F, G, and I, General
						occupational health standards and WAC
						296-307-624, Respiratory
						hazards.
Note:
An airborne concentration of a substance that is not
								capable of causing death, incapacitation, impairment of ability to self-rescue,
								injury, or acute illness due to its health effects is not covered by this
								definition.
(e) Any other atmospheric condition that is immediately
						dangerous to life or health.
Note:
The employer can find guidance on establishing
								  acceptable atmospheric conditions for air contaminants, which have no
								  WISHA-determined doses or permissible exposure limits using other sources of
								  information, such as:
1. Material safety data sheets required by WAC
								  296-307-550,
								  Employer chemical hazard communication.
2. Published information.
3. Internal documents.
Hot work permit.
A written authorization to
						perform operations, for example, riveting, welding, cutting, burning, and
						heating, that can provide a source of ignition.
Immediately dangerous to life or health
						(IDLH).
Any of the following conditions:
(a) An immediate or delayed threat to life.
(b) Anything that would cause irreversible adverse health
						effects.
(c) Anything that would interfere with an individual's
						ability to escape unaided from a permit-required confined space.
Note:
Some materials - hydrogen fluoride gas and cadmium
								vapor, for example - may produce immediate transient effects that, even if
								severe, may pass without medical attention, but are followed by sudden,
								possibly fatal collapse twelve to seventy-two hours after exposure. The victim
								"feels normal" after recovery from transient effects until collapse. Such
								materials in hazardous quantities are considered to be "immediately" dangerous
								to life or health (IDLH).
Inerting.
The displacement of the atmosphere
						in a permit-required confined space by a noncombustible gas (such as nitrogen)
						to such an extent that the resulting atmosphere is noncombustible.
Note:
This procedure produces an IDLH oxygen-deficient
								atmosphere.
Isolation.
The process by which a
						permit-required confined space is removed from service and completely protected
						against the release of energy and material into the space by such means
						as:
(a) Blanking or blinding;
(b) Misaligning or removing sections of lines, pipes, or
						ducts;
(c) A double block and bleed system;
(d) Lockout or tagout of all sources of energy; or
(e) Blocking or disconnecting all mechanical linkages.
Line breaking.
The intentional opening of a
						pipe, line, or duct that is or has been carrying flammable, corrosive, or toxic
						material, an inert gas, or any fluid at a volume, pressure, or temperature
						capable of causing injury.
Nonpermit confined space.
A confined space
						that does NOT contain actual hazards or potential hazards capable of causing
						death or serious physical harm.
Oxygen deficient atmosphere.
An atmosphere
						containing less than 19.5 percent oxygen by volume.
Oxygen enriched atmosphere.
An atmosphere
						containing more than 23.5 percent oxygen by volume.
Permit-required confined space or permit
						space.
A confined space that has one or more of the following
						characteristics capable of causing death or serious physical harm:
(a) Contains or has a potential to contain a hazardous
						atmosphere.
(b) Contains a material with the potential for engulfing
						someone who enters.
(c) Has an internal configuration that could allow
						someone entering to be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or
						by a floor, which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross section.
(d) Contains any physical hazard. This includes any
						recognized health or safety hazards including engulfment in solid or liquid
						material, electrical shock, or moving parts.
(e) Contains any other recognized serious safety or
						health hazard that could either:
(i) Impair the ability to self-rescue; or
(ii) Result in a situation that presents an immediate
						danger to life or health.
Permit-required confined space program.
An
						overall program for:
(a) Controlling and appropriately protecting employees
						from permit-required confined space hazards; and
(b) Regulating employee entry into permit-required
						confined spaces.
Prohibited condition.
Any condition in a
						permit-required confined space that is not allowed by the permit during the
						authorized entry period.
Rescue service.
The personnel designated to
						rescue employees from permit-required confined spaces.
Retrieval system.
The equipment used for
						nonentry rescue of persons from permit-required confined spaces, such as a
						retrieval line, full-body harness or wristlets, and a lifting device or
						anchor.
Testing.
The process of identifying and
						evaluating the hazards that entrants may be exposed to in a permit-required
						confined space. Testing includes specifying the tests that are to be performed
						in the permit-required confined space.
Note:
Testing allows employers
								to devise and implement adequate controls to protect entrants during entry, and
								to determine if acceptable entry conditions are present.
Statutory Authority:
						  RCW
						   49.17.010,
						  49.17.040,
						  49.17.050,
						  49.17.060. 05-01-166, §
						  296-307-656, filed 12/21/04, effective
						  4/2/05.