Too many safety professionals still to this day think that to reclassify a Permit-Required Confined Space (PRCS) is simply to lock out all the energy sources that made the space a PRCS. In August of last year, I posted a story where I asked the 30,000 members of the SAFTENG network if an enclosed palletizer was a PRCS. (see pic below for example) Overwhelmingly the members agreed that the space was a Confined Space, but the numbers dropped sharply in those who thought the space was a PRCS. But what was more concerning was the numbers of members who thought that locking out the palletizer “reclassified” the space from a PRCS to a Non-PRCS. Last week I got the call that made my point… there is a LOT MORE to reclassification than simple LOTO…
