This is not meant to be controversial, but my experiences over the past 20 years tell me many will disagree. I stand by this article as the SAFE and COMPLIANT way to achieve a NON-Permit Required Confined Space. This article should have been written 20 years ago, as this topic has been misunderstood since OSHA published 1910.146 way back in the early 1990’s. We still see many facilities misunderstanding what a Non-Permit Required Confined Space is and, more importantly, how one is created. First, OSHA defines a NON-Permit Required Confined Space in both the General Industry and Construction standards:
1910.146
“Non-permit confined space” means a confined space that does not contain or, with respect to atmospheric hazards, have the potential to contain any hazard capable of causing death or serious physical harm.
1926.1202
Non-permit confined space means a confined space that meets the definition of a confined space but does not meet the requirements for a permit-required confined space, as defined in this subpart.
What these definitions tell me is that a NON-Permit Required Confined Space is CREATED from making a PRCS safe for entry. In other words, when we conduct a site/facility evaluation to determine if there are any PRCSs on-site, our evaluations will produce ONLY ONE of TWO results:
1) The space is a Confined Space, or
2) The space is a Permit-Required Confined Space
During the initial space evaluation, we do NOT determine that a space is a “Non-Permit-Required Confined Space”! We arrive at a PRCS space becoming a NON-Permit Required Confined Space by taking a PRCS through the RECLASSIFICATION process in either 1910.146(c)(7) or 1926.1203(g). This reclassification process “reclassifies” our space from a PRCS to a Non-Permit Required Confined Space, which is FREE from the hazards that made it a PRCS.
We can label these reclassified spaces as a NON-Permit Required Confined Space if we wish, provided the measures we put in place to reclassify them remain in place, but this is NOT a requirement. I like to label my entry portals AFTER the space has been reclassified, as it makes it “official”. We would cover our PRCS signage with our NON-Permit Required Confined Space sign to make it clear that the space has been RECLASSIFIED to non-Permit status. I have found over the years that putting these signs up can reduce confusion and concerns from contractors who may have never been asked to perform an entry into a PRCS that had been RECLASSIFIED to a non-Permit status. The confusion arises when the space is still labeled as a PRCS, and we tell the contractor they do not need a permit, attendant, etc. to make entry, and the contractor’s entry program does not include a “reclassification procedure”. The new sign will still cause most to pause and ask questions, but that is a GOOD THING!
But please do not classify a confined space from our initial evaluation(s) as a NON-Permit Required Confined Space, as this is just not what the definition or the standard intended – we create our NON-Permit Required Confined Spaces using 1910.146(c)(7) and 1926.1203(g).
