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This specialist course, delivered by our experienced trainers at Fire Safe International, is for employees and supervisors who work in, supervise or plan for work taking place in or around confined spaces. The training helps them recognise and evaluate the risks of confined space hazards, understand the limits of their role and identify when more highly trained entrants and specialist controls are required.

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Helping your staff recognise when a confined-space risk exists before entry begins.

Our confined space awareness training course gives your team the ability to recognise when an enclosed place and its foreseeable hazards bring the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 into play. In most cases this might be equivalent to C&G 6150-1 (Low Risk) and C&G 6150-4 (Overseer/Topman) or similar.

Under HSE’s L101 Approved Code of Practice, a “confined space” means any place, including any chamber, tank, vat, silo, pit, trench, pipe, sewer, flue, well or other similar space in which, by virtue of its enclosed nature, there arises a reasonably foreseeable specified risk;

“specified risk” means a risk of —

(a) serious injury to any person at work arising from a fire or explosion;
(b) without prejudice to paragraph (a) —(i) the loss of consciousness of any person at work arising from an increase in body temperature;(ii) the loss of consciousness or asphyxiation of any person at work arising from gas, fume, vapour or the lack of oxygen;
(c)  the drowning of any person at work arising from an increase in the level of liquid; or
(d) the asphyxiation of any person at work arising from a free-flowing solid or the inability to reach a respirable environment due to entrapment by a free-flowing solid;

Not every enclosed or difficult-to-access workplace is a confined space under the Regulations, but this does not mean that such spaces are inherently safe and following confined space entry guidance in such spaces may still be recommended, if not legally obligated. Employers have a duty of care to employees in all cases, so each space and the work taking place within it should be thoroughly risk assessed and reviewed before commencement and continually reviewed throughout the work process. The definition of a “Confined Space” is somewhat subjective as it depends on the risk, which is influenced by both the degree of enclosure and the presence, or reasonable foreseeability, of a specified risk occurring.

How the course is built

Your team will learn to follow the control process that should take place before entry:

  1. Recognising & identifying potential hazards and when the space and task require confined-space controls
  2. Understanding the purpose and suitability of the risk assessment, safe system of work and permit
  3. Knowing where atmospheric testing, communication and rescue arrangements fit
  4. Defining the responsibilities of planners, supervisors, contractor managers and employees outside and inside the entry point

The instructor can also work through scenario-based activities such as cleaning, welding, coating, purging or inert-gas use, which may introduce a confined-space risk into an area that is not always treated as one. A place may therefore become a confined space because of the work being carried out, rather than because of its usual name or purpose. 

Note: This is an awareness course. Employees who must cross the entry point may require additional and more specific separate confined-space entry training matched to their role and the conditions involved.  Please contact us to discuss this.

How confined space awareness training helps you:

  • Confined-space risks are identified before work reaches the point of entry

    Fully trained planners and supervisors are more likely to recognise when a task needs specialist controls, entrants and rescue arrangements while there is still time to change the method, programme or resources. 

  • Fewer unauthorised or informal entries

    Training helps employees understand when leaning into, reaching inside or briefly crossing an opening counts as entry. This can reduce the likelihood of someone treating a potentially hazardous space as a routine access issue without first checking the risk assessment and entry procedure.

  • Clearer limits for employees who work around confined spaces

    Trained staff are more likely to know when to stop, who must make the next decision and which activities sit outside their role during the confined space entry, reducing unsafe improvisation and confusion between awareness, entry and rescue responsibilities

Who this course is designed for: 

Our confined space awareness training course is designed for any operative involved in planning for, supervising of, or undertaking a confined-space entry operation, even those who may not personally have to enter the space. For example:

Health and safety managers, supervisors and work planners who decide how a job should be controlled

Maintenance, cleaning and contractor-management staff working around tanks, pits, chambers, vessels, ducts or enclosed plant, or supervising contractors that are

Emergency responders whose role is to secure the area, raise the alarm or initiate the site procedure from outside the entry point

Why choose Fire Safe International as your confined space awareness training partner?

Our team of instructors understand the full confined-space training pathway, from awareness of entry through to rescue, including some very specialist operations such as aircraft fuel-tank work. This helps us explain exactly where each employee’s responsibility begins and ends, which is central to effective awareness training. Your planners, supervisors, and stakeholders will receive clear information about when a task requires specialist controls, authorised entrance or rescue provision. The result is a shared standard for recognising, referring and authorising confined-space work across your workforce and contractors.

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Can an area become a confined space when particular work begins?

In some cases, yes. A space can become a ‘confined space’ when an activity introduces a specified risk – e.g. toxic, flammable or oxygen-deficient conditions in some spaces.

Does putting your head inside count as confined-space entry?

There is no simple universal boundary that makes every brief reach or partial-body movement a formal confined-space entry. However, placing the head, upper body or breathing zone beyond an opening may expose the person to the hazards inside the space. Employees should therefore not lean into or reach inside a suspected confined space unless the task has been assessed and the required controls and authorisation are in place. Your organisation’s entry procedure should clearly define when its controls apply.

Can employees enter briefly without a permit?

Every confined-space entry, including a brief inspection or minor adjustment, should follow the controls identified by the risk assessment and safe system of work. A permit-to-work may be required where the risk assessment and safe system identify the need for formal authorisation and control. Where a permit is used, it should record matters such as the authorised task, time limits, isolations, atmospheric test results, communications and emergency arrangements. The permit supports the safe system of work; it does not make the task safe by itself.

Does a safe gas-detector reading mean the space is safe to enter?

No. A satisfactory gas-detector reading is only one part of determining whether entry conditions are acceptable and only then if the correct type of gas detector is used! Testing samples the relevant levels and locations, accounts for any vapour pockets or stratification and, where conditions may change during the task, continues through continuous monitoring or planned retesting. Training helps your team understand how ventilation, leaks, residues and work activities can alter the atmosphere during a confined space entry, and how these risks can be mitigated. Safe entry also depends on the other controls identified through the risk assessment, including isolation, ventilation, communication, supervision, suitable equipment and emergency arrangements.

Give your team a clearer understanding of confined space risk

Bespoke training can give the people who work around tanks, pits, chambers and other enclosed areas a clearer understanding of the hazards they may encounter and the limits of their role. To discuss your training options, please call 01743 761000, or click here to ask about course dates and availability.