HK Confined Space Competent Person Test key terms

Any place where, because of its enclosed nature, reasonably foreseeable specified risks arise, such as fire, explosion, loss of consciousness, drowning, or asphyxiation, and where entry and exit are limited.

The listed dangers in the Regulation that make an enclosed workplace a confined space: fire or explosion, loss of consciousness from raised body temperature, gas, fume, vapour or lack of oxygen, drowning, or asphyxiation from free-flowing solids.

The formal grading of a confined space by hazard type and severity, used to decide whether a written certificate, standby person, breathing apparatus, or full rescue team is required before entry is permitted.

A documented evaluation of foreseeable hazards, exposure, and adequacy of controls for a confined space, carried out by a competent person before work starts and revised when conditions, tasks, or personnel change.

A person with sufficient training, experience, and knowledge to assess confined space hazards, specify controls, test the atmosphere, and supervise entry so that risks are properly managed.

A worker certified or appointed as fit and trained to enter a particular confined space under the permit, having received instruction on the specific hazards, controls, and emergency arrangements for that entry.

A trained attendant stationed outside the confined space who maintains communication and headcount, controls access, monitors conditions, and summons or assists rescue without entering unless properly equipped and authorized.

The person who authorizes entry, verifies isolation, testing, ventilation, and rescue readiness, signs the permit, and cancels it when work finishes or conditions become unsafe.

A written authorization recording the space, task, personnel, hazard controls, atmospheric test results, validity period, and sign-offs, which must be displayed at the entry point and closed out after work.

A formal procedure controlling high-risk entry through authorization, cross-checks, time limits, and handover signatures, ensuring no one enters until all specified precautions have been verified and recorded.

Physically disconnecting, blanking, or locking off energy sources and process lines so that hazardous substances, electricity, or moving parts cannot enter or start during occupancy, with locks and tags controlled by the entrant.

Displacing or diluting contaminants and restoring normal oxygen by forced or natural airflow before and during entry, verified by testing, and never used as a substitute for isolating the source of the hazard.

An atmosphere below 19.5 percent oxygen by volume, which impairs judgement and breathing and can cause unconsciousness without warning, commonly from purging, rusting, combustion, or displacement by other gases.

An atmosphere above about 23.5 percent oxygen, which sharply increases fire intensity and makes clothing and grease burn readily, often caused by leaking oxygen cylinders or welding equipment.

A gas or vapour that ignites when mixed with air within its flammable range, characterized by lower and upper explosive limits and a flashpoint, often accumulating in pits, sumps, or tanks.

The minimum concentration of a flammable gas or vapour in air below which the mixture is too lean to ignite; instruments commonly alarm at a set percentage of this limit.

A colourless, highly toxic gas with a rotten-egg odour at low levels that deadens the sense of smell at higher concentrations, heavier than air, and common in sewers, sludge, and petrochemical work.

A colourless, odourless toxic gas produced by incomplete combustion and engine exhaust, which binds haemoglobin and causes headache, confusion, and collapse; it is slightly lighter than air.

Any airborne contaminant that harms health by inhalation at low concentration, assessed against occupational exposure limits and monitored with substance-specific sensors or detector tubes.

Being buried or submerged by free-flowing solids or liquids such as grain, sand, sludge, or water, which can occur suddenly and trap or asphyxiate a worker within seconds.

Non-atmospheric dangers in confined spaces including falls, slipping, electricity, moving machinery, heat stress, noise, poor lighting, and entrapment by internal structures or fittings.

Systematic measurement of oxygen, flammable gas, and toxic gas concentrations using calibrated instruments, performed before entry and continuously during occupancy, with results recorded on the permit.

A portable instrument, typically multi-sensor, that samples the space atmosphere and displays concentrations, sounding audible and visual alarms when readings exceed set thresholds.

A brief functional check exposing the instrument to a known test gas to confirm sensors respond and alarms operate, performed before each use or shift and recorded in the instrument log.

Adjusting an instrument's response against a certified standard gas to ensure accurate readings, carried out at defined intervals by trained personnel and documented with certificates.

A pre-set concentration at which the detector alarms, commonly 19.5 percent oxygen low, 23.5 percent high, 10 percent of the lower explosive limit, and substance-specific toxic limits.

The planned approach to testing, covering remote sampling at multiple depths and corners before entry, continuous personal monitoring during work, and re-testing after breaks or changes in conditions.

Mechanical supply of fresh air through ducting into the space to dilute and remove contaminants and maintain oxygen levels, sized to the space volume and arranged without recirculating exhaust.

Respiratory protection supplying breathable air from a wearer-carried cylinder, used for entry into atmospheres that are immediately dangerous to life or health or of unknown composition.

Any atmosphere that poses an immediate threat of death, irreversible illness, or impaired escape, requiring supplied-air breathing apparatus and prohibiting entry without full rescue arrangements.

A documented, rehearsed arrangement specifying rescue methods, equipment, trained rescuers, communication, and first aid, kept ready at the entry point before anyone enters the space.

A retrieval system of anchored legs, lifeline, and mechanical winch used to raise an incapacitated entrant vertically through a top opening, requiring a harness worn by every entrant.

A personal fall-arrest and retrieval device distributing forces across the body, worn by entrants so that a standby person can lift them out without entering the space.

A reliable means of contact between entrant and standby person, such as radio, rope signals, or agreed voice calls, tested before entry and maintained continuously throughout occupancy.

Immediate care given to an injured or incapacitated worker, including rescue breathing, oxygen administration, and casualty positioning, delivered by trained personnel with equipment available at the entry point.

The process by which host and contractor organizations exchange hazard information, align permits and procedures, and agree supervision and rescue arrangements before any contractor enters a confined space.