CoGDEM Comment - New HSE ACoP for Confined Space Working

CoGDEM is the Council of Gas Detection and Environmental Monitoring, a trade association with a membership of around sixty companies involved in the gas detection industry.  We are pleased to have ILM/ETP (the publishers of this IET magazine) as an Associate Member, so we now place a regular column of news from the gas detection industry in IET magazine.

In 2014 we reported that CoGDEM member companies had been invited to take part in a consultation exercise on changes to the guidance and the Approved Code of Practice issued by the UK’s HSE (Health & Safety Executive) to sit alongside the Confined Space Regulations (1997). The guidance makes many references to the need to test the atmosphere using gas detectors. A couple of CoGDEM members submitted useful comments which the HSE took into account before the finalised document (L101) was published in December 2014.

CoGDEM and its member companies keep a close watch on all documentation regarding workers in confined spaces, due to the obvious (and sometimes less obvious) risks of contamination of the breathing air with toxic or flammable gases, or the depletion of the available oxygen.  Many forms of portable gas detection instruments have been designed with these specific hazards in mind.

The HSE states that this new ACoP and guidance is for those involved in work within confined spaces, those who employ or train such people and those that represent them.  It explains the definition of a confined space in the Regulations and gives examples. It will help workers and managers to assess the risk of working within a particular confined space and put precautions in place for work to be carried out safely.

This latest edition of the ACoP brings the document up to date with regulatory and other changes. The guidance has been simplified to make the understanding and use of the document easier, particularly with clarifying the definition of a confined space.

The changes include expansion of the guidance on the definition of a ‘confined space’ and the inclusion of a flowchart to help in the decision-making process.  There are now additional examples of confined spaces to clarify new workplace risks, e.g. specifically created hypoxic environments, fire suppression systems etc. Other modifications were required to accommodate legislative or guidance changes, e.g. the smoking ban, changes to the testing procedures for lifting equipment and breathing apparatus.  Finally, the guidance includes amendments to the provisions relating to the need to check, examine and test equipment (monitors, personal protective equipment (PPE), respiratory protective equipment (RPE)) to clarify the requirements of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH) and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER).

Printed copies of the new guidance can be purchased from the HSE at £15, but the entire document can be downloaded as a pdf free of charge from http://ilmt.co/PL/2mLD . CoGDEM has told the HSE that it will help to publicise the availability of the updated guidance, so you can expect to see articles such as this in other trade press, as well as presentations at relevant industry gatherings and via the internet in webinars.