Rank: New forum user 
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i would like to hear from members what are your thoughts on the catergorisation of confined spaces.This is widespread in the water industry and follows the city and guilds training courses.The confined space regulation do not however offer a categorisation system.My thought are that if a confined space is deemed as low risk then lesser measures are put in place to mitigate the risk often ending in disaster.I guess my question is should we follow the HSE and not catergorise confined spaces ?
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Rank: Super forum user 
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I think different confined spaces clearly do have different risks, and different levels of risk, and it's entirely appropriate to adopt differing measures. If it is a low risk confined space, then lesser measures than a high risk confined space are appropriate - I've done confinmed spaces where full BA was required full time for all entries, and I've done plenty where full BA would be bonkers.
Likewise, I think it reasonable to adopt differnet measures of protection against ignition sources in e.g. a site processing highly flammable hydrocarbons and an office with some paper in the building.
I don't think HSE intends that all confined spaces be treated the same, which seems to be teh implication of your question.
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Rank: Super forum user 
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The HSE doesn't tell you not to categorise confined spaces. If the variety of confined spaces you have is such that it is useful to categorise them in order to apply proportionate precautions to each, then there's no reason not to.
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Rank: Super forum user
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On a similar note, 1 of my clients has asked about confined space training. He's found an online course for £6.50. Now I don't believe that will give them the correct qualification to enter a confined space and work.
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 1 user thanked Mark-W for this useful post.
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Rank: New forum user
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Having worked in confined space for many years as an entrant/ manager/ safety consultant i have seen the outcome of getting it wrong in confined space. i fully realize that not all confined spaces are the same. The risk rating should be decided by a full risk assessment which includes the skill/experience of the entrants,what task they are doing and not a just a categorisation based on the vessel pit tank etc . Just my thoughts
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Rank: Super forum user
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Originally Posted by: John1957  The risk rating should be decided by a full risk assessment which includes the skill/experience of the entrants,what task they are doing and not a just a categorisation based on the vessel pit tank etc . Just my thoughts
I think it's a bit chicken-and-egg - but normally I'd exect to select the entrants (i.e. the necesary level of skill, knowledge and experience) based on the task that needs doing and the characteristics of the space.
If you already have entrants, task, and space decided, I'm not sure what assigning a risk rating to that achieves. You can change the method, but if your chosen entrants aren't up to teh job it's not going to end well - unless you choose someone else, and then you're back to choosing teh entrants based on the task and space, which seems to be what you're arguing against.
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Rank: Super forum user
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John I think your question is based on a false premise "My thought are that if a confined space is deemed as low risk then lesser measures are put in place to mitigate the risk often ending in disaster".
The Water UK classification document was first published in, I think, 1999 and has been refined since. There are lots of scenarios which this document would classify as Level 1 with no need for many of the precautions that would be routine for Level 3. But, you might do something unusual in a Level 1 confined space that could exacerbate the risk - may be do e.g. some welding in the confined space or use solvents. But the Water UK document recognises this with a Level 4 for precisely this situation where the risks need to be assessed according to the work to be done. This is all consistent with the Regulations and associated Approved Code of Practice.
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