Depending on your profession – emergency response or industry – confined space entry is either a high-risk low-frequency event or part of your normal routine work in an industrial facility. There are several planning and training elements that prepare rescuers and facility employees for either operation but what should be recognized is that safe entry or rescue operations don’t happen by accident. Using the OSHA regulation and implementing NFPA 350 we ensure that entrants, no matter the reason for entering a confined space, are well-trained and the operation has the right resources in place – before, during, and after the entry.
Warning!
These resources will help you strengthen your confined space entry and rescue operations using NFPA 350 with 29 CFR 1910.146. Alone, these resources will not create a confined space entry or rescue program. Readers should have a thorough understanding of 29 CFR 1910.146 before proceeding.
Resources for Strong Rescues
High-Performance Confined Space Interactive Presentation: If you’re not familiar with, or you want to review NFPA 350 start here. In 15 minutes this short interactive course explains why you should be using NFPA 350 to assess confined spaces and how to build a rescue plan and team using its requirements.
Rescue Assessment Tool Using OSHA and NFPA 350 use this interactive tool to assess the hazards of your confined space and identify the response time and number of rescuers needed for your entry.
NFPA 350 Quick Reference A discussion and assessment guide to guide confined space owners, fire departments, and rescue teams navigate the response and personnel requirements. Tools for confined space assessments and helpful information to generate discussion and reach positive outcomes for the rescue plan.
How Fast is Your Rescue? Alex’s article in Fire Engineering: Move from compliance to performance. How to incorporate NFPA 350 in your entry operations so your rescue team is timely, qualified, and capable to perform a rescue. This article provides response times and rescue team sizes based on the hazards of the space.