What is a Confined Space?
In terms of building and property management, a confined space is anywhere that the normal range of working movements may be difficult or restricted. This includes environments such as sewers, basements, service tunnels, culverts, pipes and areas which often lack oxygen or may also contain a high concentration of dust, chemical residues and harmful fumes. This may make the environment a hazardous place to work, unless you are equipped with the correct materials, equipment and training.
Confined spaces are an everyday part of building and property management, but they can potentially make or break how a project pans out; whilst budgets are always of high importance, the need for trained and equipped specialists is paramount when it comes to tackling confined spaces.
Some further examples of confined spaces:
- Sewers
- Basements
- Chimneys
- Service Tunnels
- Culverts
- Silos
- Trenches
- Vats
- Access Shafts
- Ducts
- Chambers
How is Confined Space Cleaning and Restoration Carried Out?
For the most part, confined spaces require rope access, or industrial abseiling technicians to be involved. Industrial abseiling is a relatively efficient and cost-effective way of accessing confined spaces and having a variety of cleaning and restoration tasks carried out. Many rope access technicians will have a wealth of skills under their belt; from cleaning to masonry and repairs, it’s worth checking out what services a technician can carry out before considering what other access methods you may need to utilise.
Accreditations and Qualifications to look out for
Any IRATA trained rope access technician will have been subjected to a stringent training programme designed to keep safety and efficiency at the forefront of what they do.
You may also like to look into the following when you are procuring a rope access services for your confined space, as the nature of the specialism does require qualifications other than standard IRATA rope access:
- Managing Confined Space Level 5 City and Guilds
- High Risk Confined Space City and Guilds
- CHAS, IRATA, IPAF, IOSH and SPA certification
- British Standard Rope Access (BS 7985)
If you’re looking for specialist access solutions, speak to one of our experts today. We ensure we can find a way to access and work on buildings with even the most challenging of access points.
