A review on guidelines related to the risk assessment of a confined space

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify, review, and compare seven Guidelines, mainly focusing on risk assessment elements related to confined space activities. This is due to the lack of a specific approach regarding Guidelines for confined spaces such as entry procedure requirements, risk assessment methods, rather general existing risk assessment practices, and additional references that are required for conducting risk assessments, which could lead to industry non-compliance. The selected Guidelines are summarized in terms of requirements, followed by a review of Guideline contribution factors towards: (i) practical application; (ii) enhancing a safe system of work; and (iii) suitability as elements of risk assessment. The final section presents a brief comparative study of the Guidelines. The results from the study contribute towards the formulation of an ideal method to develop effective risk assessment tools for working safely in confined spaces. Furthermore, several literatures have been referred to provide additional input for developing these risk assessment tools.