What is a Confined Space?

“Confined space” is a term that all home inspectors should be familiar with. It pertains to many areas that inspectors evaluate, such as crawlspaces and attics.

Confined spaces can be found in nearly all places of employment, including construction sites. OSHA requires employers to evaluate their workplaces to determine if any spaces are permit-required confined spaces. It sounds simple enough, but what are confined and permit-required confined spaces, and what are some of an employer’s responsibilities regarding them?

Regardless of whether OSHA has jurisdiction in the matter, inspectors should know what a confined space is. The most detailed description can be found in OSHA’s General Industry Standards.

A confined space, as defined by OSHA’s General Industry Standard 29.CFR.1910, is a space that:

1.      is large enough and is so configured that an employee can bodily enter and perform assigned work;

2.      has limited or restricted means for entry or exit (for example: tanks, vessels, silos,

bins, hoppers, vaults, pits, etc.); and

3.      is not designed for continuous employee occupancy.

While confined spaces by themselves are not inherently unsafe, they can be, under certain conditions.