California Code of Regulations
Title 8 - Industrial Relations
Division 1 - Department of Industrial Relations
Chapter 4 - Division of Industrial Safety
Subchapter 4 - Construction Safety Orders
Article 37 - Confined Spaces in Construction
Section 1952 - General Requirements
Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) Before it begins work at a worksite, each employer shall ensure that a competent person identifies all confined spaces in which one or more of the employees it directs may work, and identifies each space that is a permit space, through consideration and evaluation of the elements of that space, including testing as necessary.
(b) If the workplace contains one or more permit spaces, the employer who identifies, or who receives notice of, a permit space shall:
NOTE to Section 1952(b)(1): A sign reading "DANGER -- PERMIT-REQUIRED CONFINED SPACE, DO NOT ENTER" or using other similar language would satisfy the requirement for a sign.
(c) Each employer who identifies, or receives notice of, a permit space and has not authorized employees it directs to work in that space shall take effective measures to prevent those employees from entering that permit space, in addition to complying with all other applicable requirements of this standard.
(d) If any employer decides that employees it directs will enter a permit space, that employer shall have a written permit space program that complies with Section 1953 implemented at the construction site. The written program shall be made available prior to and during entry operations for inspection by employees and their authorized representatives.
(e) An employer may use the alternate procedures specified in Section 1952(e)(2) for entering a permit space only under the conditions set forth in Section 1952(e)(1).
NOTE to Section 1952(e)(1): See Section 1952(g) for reclassification of a permit space after all hazards within the space have been eliminated.
(f) When there are changes in the use or configuration of a non-permit confined space that might increase the hazards to entrants, or some indication that the initial evaluation of the space may not have been adequate, each entry employer shall have a competent person reevaluate that space and, if necessary, reclassify it as a permit-required confined space.
(g) A space classified by an employer as a permit-required confined space may only be reclassified as a non-permit confined space when a competent person determines that all of the applicable requirements in Section 1952(g)(1) through (g)(4) have been met:
NOTE to Section 1952(g)(2): Control of atmospheric hazards through forced air ventilation does not constitute elimination or isolation of the hazards. Section 1952(e) covers permit space entry where the employer can demonstrate that forced air ventilation alone will control all hazards in the space.
(h) Permit Space Entry Communication and Coordination.
NOTE to Section 1952(h): Unless a host employer or controlling contractor has or will have employees in a confined space, it is not required to enter any confined space to collect the information specified in Section 1952(h).
(i) If there is no controlling contractor present at the worksite, the requirements for, and role of, controlling contactors in Section 1952 shall be fulfilled by the host employer or other employer who arranges to have employees of another employer perform work that involves permit space entry.
1. New section filed 12-30-2015; operative 12-30-2015. Exempt from OAL review pursuant to Labor Code section 142.3(a)(3). Submitted to OAL for filing and printing only (Register 2016, No. 1).
Note: Authority cited: Section 142.3, Labor Code. Reference: Section 142.3, Labor Code.