News of South West Water being fined £1.8 million after a worker drowned in a filtration tank further emphasises the need for training where people work in confined spaces, warns specialist training provider Develop Training Limited (DTL).
Working in confined spaces is common in many industries, posing a real issue for personnel responsible for health and safety in the workplace.
To educate managers and operatives on the issue, DTL is hosting a series of Confined Spaces Awareness seminars, including events at their training centres in Swindon (27 June) and York (13 September).
A confined space is one which is either fully or partially enclosed, and has a foreseeable risk of fire, explosion or loss of consciousness or suffocation to the entrant. Accidents like this can occur in a range of industries including construction, manufacturing, utilities and marine work.
The free-to-attend seminars will look at case studies of real world incidents before moving onto information about the relevant legislation, how to identify a confined space and mitigate the associate risks. Participants will be led through a demonstration of appropriate breathing apparatus and suitable winching equipment using DTL’s City & Guilds-approved confined spaces training unit.
Chris Wood, CEO at DTL, said: “In the UK, there appears to be a general lack of awareness of the dangers of working in confined spaces, or even what constitutes a confined space. This means managers can expose workers to hazards without realising it or putting adequate safeguards in place, heightening the chances an accident will happen. Employers, managers and responsible persons may face prosecution if they put lives at risk through failure to comply with current regulations.”
