Equipment Checklist: What You’ll Need Before Heading Into A Confined Space

Inspecting Your Kit

Before we look at the things that you’ll need to bring with you, we thought we’d touch on the importance of maintaining and inspecting the equipment that you do have. Pelsue’s inspection list tells you all about the importance of fall protection equipment inspections and PPE. If you don’t spend time checking over your equipment, you could miss something extremely important.

Set some time aside to check everything over at least once and you’ll be able to have more confidence that you are prepared for the task at hand. This is a very important step that must not be ignored.

Lanyard

Before you head into a confined space, you will need to make sure that you have your lanyard. This will usually have a snap hook that will keep you protected when you head in there. It is unlikely that you will forget about the lanyard as this is what connects to the other elements of the equipment but it doesn’t hurt to double-check before you head in.

Harness

The harness is very important as this is what will hold you in place should something go wrong. The harness should go around your body and your legs. If it just goes around your body, you could find that you or the person wearing it gets injured if the are left dangling by the rope. We recommend finding a harness that has a D ring on the back to keep you safe in that confined space.

Self-Retracting Lifeline

If you were to slip and fall when in that confined space, you would need something in place to catch you and arrest the fall. If you have a self-retracting lifeline, you can make sure that you aren’t left at the bottom of a hole as it will lock in place and keep you safe. In any fall or rescue missions, a self-retracting lifeline can be incredibly important so you need to make sure you have one of these.

Carabiner

A lot of the safety equipment that you will be using when you or a worker is in a confined space will need to be connected. Carabiners will connect these and make sure that there is no way that things will become detached. There should be a self-locking system and it should be free from any damage or rust. You can pick these up in many stores but just make sure you choose a high-quality carabiner before heading into a tunnel or a pipe.

A Safety Helmet

You never know what is going to happen when you head into that confined space so you need to have a helmet on to protect yourself. Ideally, you should have a helmet on at all times when on a construction site and this is required by law in some places. For confined space work, you will need to make sure that the helmet is securely fastened to your head with straps. This way, you can avoid it coming off if you were to fall.

Safety Glasses

The final piece of equipment to make our list is a set of safety glasses. These usually appear regularly on construction sites but it doesn’t hurt to have a pair handy when heading into the confined space. Safety glasses can protect your eyes from falling debris and from any machinery that you are using in the confined space. You should choose a pair that has the right kind of coating for the task that you will be performing. This way, you can protect yourself for longer.

Get The Right Equipment

If you are planning a project that requires PPE, you must make sure that everything is in order before you begin. This is important regardless of whether it is you or another worker who is planning on performing the task.

Think about everything from the quality of the harness that you will use to the glasses that you will need to protect your eyes. Additionally, you should always make sure to properly inspect your equipment before you set off. This way, you can spot any rusting or damage as quickly as possible. Follow our checklist and don’t any forget specialist tools that are required!