If you are working in a confined space, it involves maximum risk and you must proceed with caution. As diverse life threats are waiting in a confined space, so your movement needs to be restricted. A danger sign is a must to be positioned in confined spaces.
Before you can manage unwanted risks associated with a confined space, you must recognize it as a confined space. It has difficulties to escape and results in extremely serious risks. Ahead of further discussion, let’s first look for –
What Is A Confined Space?
A confined space is an encircled area, which indicates maximum risks of injuries and life threats. These locations have limited openings and no options to escape, which include sewers, silos, tanks & drains. Frequently, a confined place isn’t visited by individuals and only needs to be entered while maintenance or inspection purposes.
Read: Safety warning regarding entry to confined spaces
During construction work, some areas are marked as confined spaces with a danger sign to ensure workers are performing cautiously. That’s not even possible to avoid working in a confined space, so you need to stay extreme caution in the workplace. In case you get problems in a confined space, which can result deadly.
So, here are the top 5 confined space hazards that you should know –
1. Low Oxygen Levels
The levels of oxygen can eventually get reduced if you are working in a confined space, which is a naturally occurring reaction. The chemical reaction within certain soils and oxygen, or calk and groundwater can produce carbon dioxide, which replaces oxygen in the atmosphere. The formation of rust inside tanks might also result in an oxygen shortage. A danger sign placement in every congested zone is a must.
2. Dust
Dust has diverse chances to grow within confined spaces, either occurring naturally or out of grinding works. Excessive dust inhalation can result in respiratory illness and sometimes it’s life-threatening. Its unwanted accumulation can also increase the risk of explosion, particularly in areas with poor ventilation.
3. Vapours, Gases & Fumes
There are maximum chances of poisonous gases getting increased within confined spaces and mainly out of poor ventilation systems. Deadly leakages from bursting gas pipes or contaminated soils are quite common in confined spaces. These harmful vapours and gases can also create a toxic atmosphere within a confined location that leads to fatal.
4. Temperature
Due to high body temperature, unwanted incidents can occur anytime with major consequences of extreme warm conditions and active construction work in confined spaces. It’s difficult to escape such poor conditions, which can eventually lead to heatstroke, collapse, and exhaustion due to the enclosed nature of confined spaces.
5. Fire And Explosions
The danger of fire and explosions are extremely increased with the existence of poisonous gases or vapours within a confined space. Similar to the lack of oxygen, excessive oxygen is also not good in confined spaces, which might result in unwanted explosions. A danger sign positioning in such confined spaces is a must, which every employer needs to check as employee’s safety precautions are equally important.
In short, working in a confined space involves great risks, so you must adhere to a safe work system made using primary control measures. It’s further important to get the right instruction if you are working in a confined space, which will enable you to work safely and never put others at risk.
Now that you are in search of the best team to have fully-customizable safety signs installed at your workplace, you can visit us at www.3signs.co.uk and place your order. From fire safety signs to warning signs and safe condition signs, we are experts to ensure sturdy, simple, and clarity to workplace signs. For designing a danger sign according to your workplace needs, you can send us an email at info@3signs.co.uk today for the best help!