Confined space rescue is a subset of technical rescue that involves the rescue and recovery of victims involved in situations where there is a confined space, which is defined by OSHA as follows: The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. ...

1. Having limited or restricted means of entry or exit
2. Is large enough for an employee to enter and perform assigned work
3. Is not designed for continuous occupancy

Examples include underground vaults, storage silos, storage bins, pits, tanks, sewers, and so forth. Concrete stave silo used for corn silage Storage silos are structures for storing bulk materials. ... Pit may refer to: Look up Pit on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Any high walled depression in the ground, such as a quarry or (in Britain) a coal mine. ... Sewers transport wastewater from buildings to treatment facilities. ...

A subset of confined spaces are permit required confined spaces which are particularly hazardous due to the presence of one or more of the following:

1. Contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere
2. Contains a material that has the potential for engulfing the entrant
3. Has an internal configuration that might cause an entrant to be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor that slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross section
4. Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazards.

Such situations are particularly dangerous for a potential rescuer, as there is an immediate desire to effect a rescue. Unfortunately, due to the presence of conditions that may be immediately hazardous to the safety of the would-be rescuer, until confined space rescue standards were developed and followed, many rescuers have died attempting to save others. One study conducted revealed that 1.6 rescuers died for every initial victim- a surprising statistic that revealed a greater problem in which fire departments and other responsible parties simply sent in more people, who also died without being retrieved successfully.

In the USA, confined space rescue is covered under National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1670, and under 29 CFR 1910.146 and 29 CFR 1910.147, and often is managed using the Incident Command System. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is a U.S. organization (albeit with some international members) charged with creating and maintaining minimum standards and requirements for fire prevention and suppression activities, training, and equipment, as well as other life-safety codes and standards. ... A typical Incident Command Post The Incident Command System (ICS) is a management system used within the United States to organize emergency response and was designed to offer a scalable response to incidents of any magnitude. ...

See also

Trench rescue Trench rescue is a highly specialized form of rescue, a subset of confined space rescue. ...

External links

• NAVSAR National Association of Volunteer Search and Rescue Teams

Emergency Management Academy of New Zealand provides confined space and trench rescue training Image File history File links EMANZ.gif Summary Icon for the Emergency Management Academy of New Zleand (http://www. ...