INSTRUCTIONS: To complete the Confined Space online training course, students must read all materials supplied in the course outline including videos, presentations and any online documentation. Once completed, the student can click on the Exam link and complete the online certification exam. A passing grade is 75%. Students can take the test more than once.

Introduction

Each year, more than two million (2,000,000) people will enter and work in confined spaces in North America. Entering or working in confined spaces presents many hazards that could lead to serious injury or death if all safety procedures are not adhered to. According to statistics, every ten (10) minutes, two (2) people are killed and an additional one hundred and seventy (170) people suffer disabling injuries from accidents that occurred at worksites.

If you multiply these figures, every day more than two hundred and ninety eight (298) people are killed and more than four thousand and eighty (4,080) people will suffer disabling injuries while on the job. More than eighty-five percent (85%) of these accidents can be prevented by learning about the hazards of the work, properly preparing, monitoring and following all safety practices, prescribed policies and procedures and adhering to all safety regulations that pertain to the work involved.

The Ministry of Labour has made changes to the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. The new legislation will come into effect on September 30, 2006. The changes provide more detail than what was in the previous legislation. 

The new definition of a confined space may reduce or eliminate the confined spaces in your workplace. If you no longer have a confined space, you cannot just walk away from it. You must still control the actual and potential workplace hazards that may still be present in that space.

This confined space program has been developed to enhance overall safety awareness by teaching employees to recognize the various types of confined spaces and potential hazards, follow all policies, procedures and regulations that apply to confined spaces, follow a permit system, understand hot work, and monitor and control atmospheric conditions within a confined space.

In addition, we will cover emergency response plans such as confined space rescue and confined space non-entry rescue techniques. Statistics have shown that improper rescue techniques have claimed almost as many lives as the confined space entrant. As with anything, communication is paramount to successful confined space entry situations.