Confined Space Entry Permit Template

Most confined space citations start with a classification error. A space that should have been permit-required was entered on a checklist, or a space with every hazard genuinely eliminated is still being permitted at full cost. Get the classification right and the rest of the programme follows.

The permit is the artifact that proves the programme was applied to this entry. It does not replace the written programme, the training, or the rescue evaluation that sit behind it.

Confined space regimes are unusually consistent internationally, because the failure mode is the same everywhere: an entrant is overcome, and an untrained colleague goes in after them.

The permit is completed in a fixed order because each step depends on the one before it. Filling it in from the top of the form rather than in the order of the work is the most common way a permit becomes fiction.

1. 01

   Identify the space and the work(f)(1)-(f)(3)

   Name the space by its permanent identifier, not by description. State the specific task and the authorised duration. A permit valid for a shift does not cover the shift after it.

2. 02

   Identify the hazards(f)(7)

   Atmospheric, engulfment, configuration, mechanical, electrical, thermal, noise, and anything introduced by the work itself. Welding, coating and solvent use change the atmosphere after testing has already passed.

3. 03

   Isolate and control(f)(8)

   Blank, blind, double block and bleed, or physically disconnect. Lock out mechanical and electrical energy under 1910.147. Start ventilation and let it run long enough to turn the volume of the space over before testing.

4. 04

   Test the atmosphere in order(f)(10)

   Oxygen first, then flammables, then toxics. The order matters because combustible gas indicators give unreliable readings in oxygen-deficient or oxygen-enriched atmospheres. Record the actual numbers, the instrument, its calibration date and the time.

   Recording a tick rather than a reading is the finding inspectors raise most.

5. 05

   Set acceptable entry conditions(f)(9)

   State the numeric range that must hold for entry to continue, and what happens when it is breached. Evacuation must be automatic on alarm, not a judgement call made at the hatch.

6. 06

   Assign roles and confirm rescue(f)(4)-(f)(6), (f)(11)

   Name every entrant, the attendant, and the entry supervisor. Confirm the rescue arrangement is available now, for this space, and that retrieval equipment is rigged where required. Only then does the supervisor sign.

Confined space citations concentrate in a handful of places, and the pattern is consistent: the permit exists, but it does not reflect what actually happened at the space.

Permits fail between issue and closure. The atmosphere is tested once and never again, the attendant changes without a handover, the permit stays open after the crew has gone home.

KnowSafe

Issues the permit against the space register, enforces the testing order, requires numeric readings, and forces cancellation at the stated expiry rather than letting it drift.

KnowTrain

Holds the entrant, attendant and supervisor rosters separately, so a permit cannot name someone whose role training has lapsed.

KnowMaintain

Links the isolation on the permit to the machine specific energy control procedure for the equipment feeding the space.

Ella

Surfaces open permits, overdue monitoring intervals and rescue evaluations approaching expiry, and holds every write for approval.

Confined space

Large enough to enter and perform work, with limited means of entry or exit, and not designed for continuous occupancy. All three must hold.

Permit-required confined space

A confined space that also has a hazardous atmosphere, engulfment potential, an inwardly converging shape, or any other recognised serious hazard.

Authorised entrant

An employee trained and authorised to enter, who must know the hazards, use equipment properly, communicate with the attendant and exit on alarm or order.

Attendant

The person stationed outside for the duration of entry, monitoring entrants and conditions and summoning rescue. Must never enter to rescue.

Entry supervisor

The person who verifies conditions, signs the permit to authorise entry, and cancels it when work ends or conditions change.

Acceptable entry conditions

The stated conditions that must exist for entry to be safe and to continue, usually expressed as numeric atmospheric ranges.

Non-entry retrieval

A harness and retrieval line rigged so a casualty can be extracted without anyone entering. Required where feasible and where it does not increase risk.

Reclassification

Downgrading a permit space to non-permit under (c)(7), permitted only where all hazards are eliminated, not controlled.