When COS caught up with the hospital’s assistant chief engineer Martin Gotel, his team had just inspected six manholes, a task that set the “game plan” in motion. Workers wore harnesses and other PPE, set up a tripod and winch and ventilated the area. When all was clear, they entered the space but stayed in constant communication with the permanent hall watch rescue person.

“We always have a person standing there,” says Gotel, “not just someone available by radio. There’s always someone, and that person is continually monitoring the environment with the gas monitor.”

After procuring the necessary equipment and learning the drill, facilities staff adapted well.

“Doing it on a regular basis becomes very, very normal,” says Gotel. “In most cases, to prepare yourself for a confined space entry, to do your assessment, to have your rescue team and everything in place, doesn’t take a lot of time.”

He has heard the horror stories and knows that ignoring protocol, even just once, can kill.

“When you think of it, I could nip into this manhole, the guy could have a sniffer on the outside, and I’ll just shoot into there to check something. Okay, but what if I have a heart attack in there? What does it take to do it right?”

Who can assess the risk?
A confined space related injury or death often results from an unusual set of events, or a hazard that doesn’t show up on a hazard assessment. Industry needs better assessments.

People have died in confined spaces deemed perfectly safe in a hazard assessment done in a hurry, by someone unqualified, or that used a generic checklist not tailored to the workplace.

Kenyon once visited a chemical plant where welders worked in a stainless steel tank that an engineer had deemed “low hazard.”

“Meanwhile they were using argon, which is an inert gas that displaces oxygen. There have been cases of welders dying of argon exposure,” he says.

Confined spaces can harbour a number of chemicals that the average gas detector will not detect. “Particularly any type of vault that’s in the ground with pipes or cables running miles in every direction,” says Kenyon. “These vaults end up being catch-alls for substances people might not even be considering. Naturally occurring methane gas sometimes seeps into the vaults that way.”

But not everyone would know that. Who, besides Kenyon, Morrison or a chemist, is qualified to thoroughly assess the hazards in a confined space? Safety laws tend to say a “qualified, competent person” is someone who has adequate training and experience in the recognition, evaluation and control of confined space hazards.

Kenyon recommends that this person conduct the assessment in conjunction with an employee who is intimately familiar with the worksite and tasks. And for that worker to be qualified, Morrison further suggests that mentoring be part of his or her training.

“A hazard assessment requires both theoretical knowledge and on-the-job experience,” he says. “There has to be some formal experience, as well as mentoring. Just because you’ve taken a course doesn’t mean you can make those grey area calls. Courses don’t provide someone looking over your shoulder to make sure you’ve done it correctly.”

At Vancouver Coastal Health, the workers who learned from the experts have gained their own expertise, at least in terms of being qualified to work safely in a confined space and, if necessary, able and ready to respond in an emergency.

“When I go in there to do this work, the last thing I have to worry about is being trapped somewhere and no one getting me out,” says Gotel. “I’ve got full support. I know if anything happens to me I’ve got a team of people who can get me out of there.”

Michelle Morra is an award-winning journalist and former editor of COS. You can reach her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Photo courtesy of John Kenyon at Dynamic Rescue System