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Tight space painting needs? Covered.
Industrial facilities often have enclosed or confined spaces, examples of which include tanks, storage bins, silos, pipelines, underground vaults, and pits. When confined space surfaces need cleaning, painting, or coating, OSHA compliance is required to avoid hazards and ensure worker safety.
Painters USA has the knowledge and experience you need to understand OSHA confined space characteristics and compliance. We can help you assess and understand permit requirements to find the safest way to complete your project, while staying on time and on budget.
How does OSHA classify confined space?
Confined space can entrap or engulf workers, or expose them to hazardous atmospheric conditions. The consequences of working in these areas without proper planning and preparation can be tragic, including severe injuries and death.
Confined space is often referred to as non-permit or permit-required. Non-permit required confined space meets all three of the following conditions of 29 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1910.146(b).
- Large enough for workers to enter and perform certain tasks or jobs.
- Limited or restricted for entry and exit.
- Not designed for continuous human occupancy.
Permitting requirements apply with the presence of safety hazards and risks as follows.
Our safety culture delivers big benefits
Safe workplaces make for a happier, more productive workforce. They reduce legal and insurance risks. They protect lives and assure families that their loved ones will return home from work every day. Our commitment to safety gives our clients one less thing to worry about.
When does OSHA require a confined space permit?
Permit-required confined space meets the following conditions as outlined by OSHA:
- Has the potential for hazards like fires, explosions, oxygen-deficiency, dust, heat, and exposed live wires.
- Contains materials like grain or pellets, which have the potential to engulf or entrap an entrant.
- Walls that converge inward or floors that slope and taper downward into a smaller area.
- Has any other recognized safety or health hazards.
When permit conditions apply, industrial facilities should follow OSHA guidance and instructions to develop and adhere to a confined space program for their own employees and authorized entrants such as Painters USA and other contractor personnel.
Confined space reclassification
Painters USA is always concerned about the health and safety of our workers and yours, which means that sometimes a permit-requiring factor may be introduced into a project. This usually involves the surface preparation phase only.
For example, industrial cleaning methods like abrasive blasting may create a combustible dust hazard during the process, or the best solvent or coating product for the job may be caustic or flammable. We will consult with you in advance if this applies to your project.
We also identify situations that may not require comprehensive monitoring and permits. For example, agriculture clients have facilities with a great deal of permit-required confined space. Yet during off-season, in the absence of running machinery or normal operations, we may be able to rely on Lockout Tagout (LOTO) procedures and other strategies to reduce or eliminate permits and monitoring, yet still meet client and OSHA safety requirements.
However, safety is always our priority. We will not be party to any confined space permit requests if human safety and welfare would be at risk.
Painters USA confined space expertise
Whether your confined space includes machinery, product, utilities, or structural elements, Painters USA is the commercial / industrial contractor for the job.
- Thousands of hours of painting experience in all kinds of industrial settings.
- Experienced work crews trained for safety and proficiency.
- Flexible scheduling and large crews to meet limited downtime needs, available weekends, holidays, nights, and around-the-clock if needed
- Necessary equipment, processes, and infrastructure and ability to coordinate with other trades and contractors.
Benefits of our confined space training
Other industrial painting services
Specific industry experience
Blasting and heavy duty cleaning services
Unique and specialized industrial painting services
Industrial flooring services
