Maritime Occupational Health and Safety Regulations

171 (1) Before authorizing a person to enter a confined space on a vessel, the employer must appoint a marine chemist or other qualified person to

• (a) carry out an assessment of any hazardous substance in the confined space; and

• (b) specify the necessary tests to determine whether employees are likely to be exposed to the hazard.

(2) The assessment must, at a minimum, verify that the following requirements are respected:

• (a) the concentration of any chemical agent to which the person is likely to be exposed in the confined space is not more than the value or level referred to in subsection 255(1) or the percentage referred to in subsection 255(5);

• (b) the concentration of airborne hazardous substances, other than chemical agents, in the confined space is not hazardous to the health or safety of the person;

• (c) the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere in the confined space is not less than 19.5 per cent by volume and not more than 23 per cent by volume at normal atmospheric pressure and in any case the partial pressure of oxygen is not less than 148 mm Hg; and

• (d) the value, level or percentage referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c) can be maintained during the period of proposed occupancy of the confined space by the person.

(3) The qualified person must, in a written report signed by that person, set out the following information:

• (a) the name of the vessel on which the confined space is located;

• (b) the location of the confined space on the vessel;

• (c) a record of the results of the assessment made in accordance with subsection (2);

• (d) the type, model, serial number and date of last calibration of any instrument used in the assessment process;

• (e) an evaluation of the hazards of the confined space;

• (f) if the employer has established procedures to be followed by a person entering into, exiting from or performing work in the confined space, which of those procedures are applicable;

• (g) if the employer has not established procedures referred to in paragraph (f), the procedures to be followed by the person referred to in that paragraph;

• (h) the protection equipment referred to in Part 10 that is to be used by every person granted access to the confined space; and

• (i) if the employer has established emergency procedures to be followed in the event of an accident or other emergency in or near the confined space, which of the procedures are to be followed, including immediate evacuation of the confined space when

  • (i) an alarm is activated, or

  • (ii) there is any significant change in the value, level or percentage referred to in subsection (2).