On August 3, 2015 the new Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standard Subpart AA confined spaces in construction goes into effect (1926.1200-1213). This standard is very similar to the confined space standard in general industry (1910.146). OSHA recently announced that enforcement of the new standard is being postponed until October 2 to allow additional time for the construction industry to train workers and purchase equipment. OSHA will not issue citations to employers making a good faith effort to comply with the standard. Factors OSHA will consider if an employer is making a good faith effort to comply are:
- If the employer has not trained its employees as required under the new standard, whether the employer has scheduled such training,
- If the employer does not have the equipment required for compliance with the new standard, including personal protective equipment, whether the employer has ordered or otherwise arranged to obtain such equipment required for compliance and is taking alternative measures to protect employees from confined space hazards, and
- Whether the employer has engaged in any additional efforts to educate workers about confined space hazards and protect workers from those hazards.
The standard does not apply to construction work regulated by:
- Subpart P Excavations.
- Subpart S Underground construction, caisson, cofferdams, & compressed air
- Subpart Y Diving
- Is large enough
& so configured that an employee can bodily enter it; - Has limited or restricted
means for entry and exit; and - Is not designed for
continuous employee occupancy.
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| Confined Space Testing & Monitoring in Brooklyn |
However, some of the more interesting changes entail the difference between construction and general industry. For example the definition for a “Controlling Contractor” is the employer that has overall responsibility for construction at the
worksite. There is a note attached to
this definition which indicates if the controlling contractor owns or manages
the property, then it is both a controlling employer and a host employer.
means any employer who decides that an employee it directs will enter a permit
space. The note on this definition warns that the employer cannot avoid the
duties of this standard by refusing to decide.
OSHA will consider the failure to so decide to be an implicit decision
to allow employees to enter those spaces if they are working in the proximity
of the space.
employer as the employer that owns or manages the property where the
construction work is taking place. This
definition also has a note that states if the owner of the property on which
construction activity occurs has contracted with an entity for the general
management of that property, and has transferred to that entity the information
specified in 1203(h)(1), OSHA will treat the contracted management entity as
the host employer for as long as that entity manages the property. Otherwise, OSHA will treat the owner of the
property as the host employer. In no
case will there be more than one host employer.
requirement of the standard requires each employer (host employer, controlling
contractor, & entry employer) must ensure that a competent person
identifies all confined spaces…and identifies each space that is a permit
space, through consideration and evaluation of the elements of that space,
including testing as necessary.
this new standard will improve safety and protect nearly 800 construction workers a year from serious injuries and reduce life-threatening hazards. Training requirements for entrants,
attendants, and supervisors are relatively the same as the general industry
standard. Give us a call and we can
provide this training, at your location or ours.
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