1.0 PURPOSE/OVERVIEW OF THE CONFINED SPACE PROGRAM
The purpose of this Confined Space Program is to prevent unauthorized confined space entry and to establish training and safety guidelines for personnel at Heat Waves Hot Oil Service to provide guidance to prevent exposure to inherent hazards that could be encountered while entering and working inside or within the immediate area of a confined space. This Confined Space Program is based on standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in CFR 1910.146 to ensure the worker's safety from those hazards of entry into and work within PERMIT REQUIRED/ NON-PERMIT REQUIRED CONFINED SPACES which have been identified at this facility. Following review of this program and related training, the employees will have learned the following:
The types/classes of confined spaces
The hazards of confined space work
The confined spaces pre-entry "check list" system
The confined spaces permit system
How to recognize and test for those hazards
How to safely enter and work in a confined space
How to conduct an emergency rescue from a confined space
2.0 TRAINING PROGRAM OVERVIEW:
2.1 TRAINING METHODS:
All employees shall receive a complete and thorough safety orientation and confined spaces safety and on-the-job training course prior to his/her related job assignment.
2.2 TYPES OF TRAINING:
The basic types of training for employees in permit required / non-permit required confined spaces shall be:
(1) INTRODUCTION FOR AFFECTED EMPLOYEES: This training should consist of classroom and lab sessions prior to employee's first duty assignment, give employee's a basic understanding of the activities and hazards involved and emergency and protective equipment to be used in permit required confined spaces.
(2) ON-THE-JOB TRAINING: Prior to duty assignment, on-site training shall be the second phase of training. After classroom sessions and after the trainee has gained a basic understanding of the permit required confined space operation and hazards involved, instruction will include observation and closely supervised participation in actual work practices and emergency rescue simulated conditions.
(3) RETRAINING: Retraining of all experienced employees in permit required confined space practices will be required if there is a change in assigned duties, if there is a change in permit space and if there is a change in permit operations that result in additional hazards so that all personnel concerned with confined spaces will be kept abreast of changes.
2.3 WHO SHOULD BE TRAINED: The following individuals have been identified as requiring training in confined space entry.
· all Heat Waves Hot Oil Services – Trinidad area employees
2.4 INITIAL TRAINING: OSHA standards require the identification of Confined Spaces, identification of exposed employees and training of said employees. Recommended minimum identified workers are:
A. PERMIT ISSUER(S)
· Supervisors at Heat Waves Hot Oil Services – Trinidad area
B. PERMIT RECIPIENT(S)/ON-SITE SUPERVISOR(S)
· all Heat Waves Hot Oil Services – Trinidad area employees
C. AUTHORIZED ON-SITE ENTRANTS:
· all Heat Waves Hot Oil Services – Trinidad area employees
D. AUTHORIZED ON-SITE STANDBY:
· all Heat Waves Hot Oil Services – Trinidad area employees
2.5 TRAINING EFFECTIVENESS
Heat Waves will ensure affected employees understand and follow:
A written Confined Space Entry Procedure
A confined Spaces Entry Permit System
A Pre-Entry Confined Spaces "Check List" System
A practice of posting warning notices
All necessary safety equipment for confined space entry on hand and in working order
The identified and trained employee(s) can identify existing and predictable hazards and administer: the Permit System; the CheckList System; the atmospheric testing and monitoring; the work safety practices; and the proper selection and use of safety and emergency rescue equipment and procedures.
3.0 DEFINITIONS
3.1 CONFINED SPACE:
Confined Spaces Identified at Heat Waves Hot Oil – Trinidad Area:
· Heat Waves Water Trucks
· Open Top Frac Tanks
· Closed Top Frac Tanks
"Confined space" means a space that: is large enough and so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work; AND has limited or restricted means for entry or exit (for example, tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, and pits are spaces that may have limited means of entry); AND is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.
“Permit Required Confined Space” means a space that is a confined space and has one of the following characteristics: contains, or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere; OR contains a material that could engulf entrant; OR is configured such that it could trap or asphyxiate the entrant; OR contains any recognized safety or health hazard.
3.2 OXYGEN DEFICIENCY: An atmosphere containing less than 19.5 percent oxygen by volume.
3.3 OXYGEN ENRICHED ATMOSPHERE: Atmosphere containing more than 23.5 % oxygen by volume.
3.4 HAZARDOUS/TOXIC 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 space), injury, or acute illness from one or more of the following causes:
(1) Flammable gas, vapor, or mist in excess of 10 percent of its lower flammable limit (LFL);
(2) 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 5 feet (1.52 m) or less;
(3) Atmospheric oxygen concentration below 19.5 percent or above 23.5 percent;
(4) Atmospheric concentration of any substance for which a dose or a permissible exposure limit is published in Subpart G, Occupational Health and Environmental Control, or in Subpart Z, Toxic and Hazardous Substances, of this Part and which could result in employee exposure in excess of its dose or permissible exposure limit; NOTE: an atmospheric concentration of any 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 provision; and
(5) Any other atmospheric condition that is immediately dangerous to life or health; NOTE for air contaminants for which OSHA has not determined a dose or permissible exposure limit, other sources of information, such as Material Safety Data Sheets that comply with the Hazard Communication Standard, section 1910.1200 of this Part, published information, and internal documents can provide guidance in establishing acceptable atmospheric conditions.
3.5 ACCEPTABLE ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS: Confined space workplace conditions that must exist in a permit space to allow entry and to ensure that employees involved with a permit-required confined space entry can safely enter into and work within the space.
3.6 ENTRY PERMIT: A written document providing for controlling all work performed in and around permit confined spaces entry operations as identified above for Heat Waves, Trinidad area
(1) The permit space to be entered;
(2) The purpose of the entry;
(3) The date and the authorized duration of the entry permit;
(4) The authorized entrants within the permit space, by name or by such other means (for example, through the use of rosters or tracking systems) as will enable the attendant to determine quickly and accurately, for the duration of the permit, which authorized entrants are inside the permit space;
(5) The personnel, by name, currently serving as attendants;
(6) The individual, by name, currently serving as entry supervisor, with a space for the signature or initials of the entry supervisor who originally authorized entry;
(7) The hazards of the permit space to be entered;
(8) The measures used to isolate the permit space and to eliminate or control permit space hazards before entry; NOTE: those measures can include the lockout or tagging of equipment and procedures for purging, inerting, ventilating and flushing permit spaces;
(9) The acceptable entry conditions;
(10) The results of initial and periodic tests performed under paragraph (d)(5) of the OSHA Standard included in the appendix of this program accompanied by the names or initials of the testers and by an indication of when the tests were performed;
(11) The rescue and emergency services that can be summoned and the means (such as the equipment to use and the number to call) for summoning those services;
(12) The communication procedures used by authorized entrants and attendants to maintain contact during the entry;
(13) Equipment such as personal protective equipment, testing equipment, communications equipment, alarm systems and rescue equipment, to be provided for compliance with this section;
(14) Any other information whose inclusion is necessary, given the circumstances of the particular confined space, in order to ensure employee safety; and
(15) Any additional permits, such as for hot work, that have been issued to authorize work in the permit space.
3.7 PRE-ENTRY JOB SITE "CHECK LIST" SYSTEM: A procedure through which the on-site job supervisor conducts a pre-entry on-site job assignments/site orientation meeting to include:
(1) contents of entry permit(s),
(2) personnel/work assignments,
(3) safety check results and safety precautions, and
(4) emergency rescue procedures. (See the Heat Wave Confined Space Pre-Entry Check List.)
3.8 LOCKOUT/TAGOUT PROCEDURE: A process, by which potential physical hazards are secured,
(lockout/tagout), of related electrical systems, machinery, pressure systems and/or rotating equipment which might present a hazard while an employee or an outside contractor is working in or around identified confined spaces. At Heat Waves the confined spaces to not have any electrical or mechanical equipment inside. Tags will be placed on open hatches to indicate workers are inside tanks.
3.9 DOUBLE BLOCK/ BLEED: Does not pertain to Heat Waves confined spaces.
3.10 HOT WORK PERMIT: The employer's authorization to perform operations (for example, welding, cutting, burning and heating) capable of providing a source of ignition.
3.11 EMERGENCY: Any occurrence (including any failure of hazard control or monitoring equipment) or event(s) internal or external to the confined space which could endanger entrants. Potential emergency situations identified at this facility are identified as follows:
· Slipping and falling while entering a tank
· Being overcome by atmospheric hazards
3.12 ENGULFMENT: "Engulfment" means the surrounding and effective capture of a person by a liquid or finely divided (flowable) solid substance that can be aspirated 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.
3.13 ATTENDANT: Primary responsibility for the protection of others and their equipment from hazards associated with entry into or work in enclosed spaces. The ATTENDANT is stationed outside the permit required confined space. He or she monitors the authorized entrants specifically listed on the Confined Space Permit inside the confined space.
3.14 ENTRANT/WORKER: Authorized by Heat Waves supervisor to enter a permit required, confined space and is the primary person responsible for the assigned work tasks within the confined space, and is the most likely to encounter hazardous environments.
3.15 ENTRY SUPERVISOR: "Entry Supervisor" means the person (such as the employer, foreman, or crew chief) responsible for determining if acceptable entry conditions are present at a permit space where entry is planned, for authorizing entry and overseeing entry operations, and for terminating entry as required by this section.
NOTE: An entry supervisor also may serve as an attendant /authorized entrant, as long as that person is trained and equipped as required by this section for each role he or she fills. Also, the duties may be passed from one individual to another during the course of an entry operation.
4.0 CONFINED SPACE PERSONNEL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
4.1 ENTRY SUPERVISOR: It is the responsibility of the authorized ENTRY SUPERVISOR to issue the CONFINED SPACE ENTRY or WORK PERMIT. The ENTRY SUPERVISOR is also responsible for ensuring that the permit issuance steps, which might be delegated to another Heat Wave employee, have been properly completed. His or her authorization shall:
· Determine that the entry permit contains the requisite information before authorizing or allowing entry;
· Determine that the necessary procedures, practices and equipment for safe entry are in effect before allowing entry;
· Determine, at appropriate intervals, that entry operations remain consistent with the terms of the entry permit, and that acceptable entry conditions are present;
· Cancel the entry authorization and terminate entry whenever acceptable entry conditions are not present; and
· Take the necessary measures for concluding an entry operation, such as closing off a permit space and canceling the permit, once the work authorized by the permit has been completed.
Individuals empowered to authorize entries may also serve as the (1) on-site job supervisor, (2) authorized attendant, or (3) authorized entrant, if they have the proper training.
The ENTRY SUPERVISOR shall also take the appropriate measures to remove unauthorized personnel who are in or near entry permit confined spaces. Any questions of interpretation or application of this policy or unusual circumstances should be immediately referred to the ENTRY SUPERVISOR.
The ENTRY SUPERVISOR shall be trained and authorized in CONFINED SPACE ENTRY and EMERGENCY RESCUE PROCEDURES and shall supervise the correct implementation of these procedures.
4.2 ATTENDANT: An ATTENDANT shall be stationed outside any confined space while an ENTRANT(s) is inside, and shall be continuously in visual or verbal communication with the ENTRANT(s). The ATTENDANT is to be trained in the Heat Waves Confined Space Entry program and is required to have, at all times while on duty, applicable protective clothing. During the pre-work orientation session the ENTRY SUPERVISOR shall communicate to the ATTENDANT at a prearranged procedure for notifying and summoning emergency aid.
While workers are in a confined space, the ATTENDANT shall have, but not be limited to, the following duties:
· Continuously maintain an accurate count of all persons in the confined space. Ensure that all precautions and conditions of the confined space permit have been met prior to entry and while work is performed in the confined space.
· Ensure that all tools and equipment used in and around the confined space meet the approved company standard and are not being used in a manner that can pose a hazard to the workers inside the confined space.
· Inspect safety/rescue equipment to be used in the entry to ensure it is in proper working condition.