Confined Space Risk Assessment (UK)
A confined space can kill quickly and can kill the people who rush in to help. Work in tanks, chambers, ducts and other enclosed spaces carries risks that do not exist in open air, and the law requires a careful assessment before anyone enters.
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What counts as a confined space
A confined space is any substantially enclosed space where there is a foreseeable risk of serious injury from hazardous conditions, for example a tank, silo, sewer, duct, chamber or unventilated room. It does not have to be small.
The specific risks
- Lack of oxygen, which can cause collapse with no warning.
- Toxic gases, fumes or vapours.
- Flammable atmospheres that can ignite or explode.
- Flowing liquids or free flowing solids that can engulf.
- Heat, leading to dangerous rises in body temperature.
What the law requires
The Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 set a clear order: avoid entry if the work can be done another way; if entry is unavoidable, follow a safe system of work based on the risk assessment; and put in place adequate emergency arrangements before work starts.
Controls and rescue
Controls include testing and monitoring the atmosphere, ventilation, isolation of inflows, breathing apparatus where needed, communication, and a trained team. Crucially, there must be a rescue plan that does not rely on the emergency services alone, because many confined space deaths are would be rescuers.
Record it
Record the space, the risks, the safe system of work, the entry controls and the rescue plan. High risk entry usually needs a permit to work as well. Our risk assessment template gives you the form.
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