Confined spaces and their multiple risks
Confined spaces encompass a variety of environments that regularly require repair, cleaning or maintenance operations.
These include, for example, water treatment facilities (sewers, basins, tanks), silos or other industrial reservoirs for cement, cereals or pharmaceutical products such as gelatine.
These confined spaces expose workers to a variety of risks related to:
- falls from height, first and foremost
- humidity, which causes slipping
- poor lighting
- temperature variations
- the presence of toxic gases
- the risk of impact with walls etc.
"In the event of an incident, the golden rule of safety stipulates that the person remaining on the surface must never descend to provide assistance, but must be able to evacuate the victim from the top of the installation using appropriate equipment," says Cécilia Lemoine, fall protection solutions expert at Delta Plus.