Occupational health and safety law has special requirements for working in a confined space.

A confined space is an enclosed or partly enclosed space that has other features that combine to make it potentially dangerous to work in.

This could be a space that is hard to get in and out of or that may have low oxygen levels, or contain harmful fumes.

Examples of potential confined spaces include:

• Storage tanks
• Process vessels, pressure vessels
• silos
• Pits, pipes, sewers, sewer pump stations
• Wet and dry wells, shafts and tunnels
• Ship cargo tanks, ballast or oil tanks

What are the risks of working in confined spaces?

There are serious health and safety risks working in confined spaces including:

• Loss of consciousness, injury or death from contaminants in the air
• A fire or explosion that kills or seriously injures
• Suffocation from oxygen deficiency
• Crushing or suffocation from something like grain, sand, flour or fertiliser if you fall into it

Incidents in confined spaces have sometimes involved multiple deaths where other workers enter the space to rescue a victim, unaware of the risks where they can also be overcome by toxic fumes or gases.

Always check with your supervisor or OH&S rep before doing any work in a confined space.