Occupational Safety and Health

Content

The Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Confined Spaces) Regulation applies to work in an industrial undertaking— 

1. that takes place within a confined space; and
2. that takes place within the immediate vicinity of, and is associated with work occurring within, a confined space.

Even if workers are in the immediate vicinity of the confined space and perform associated work in that confined space, the proprietor or contractor shall appoint a competent person to assess the reasonably foreseeable risk arising from the work (e.g. releasing of hazardous gases or falling from height, etc.) and make recommendations on measures necessary to ensure the safety and health of workers.

When workers enter a confined space to carry out underground pipework, there may be additional hazards, particularly atmospheric hazards. Therefore, a proprietor or contractor and a competent person should determine whether the work involving entry into the confined space relates to underground pipework. When assessing whether a particular job constitutes “underground pipework” under section 9(b) of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Confined Spaces) Regulation, the following determining factors should be considered:

1. whether the work is performed within a confined space as interpreted under section 2 of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Confined Spaces) Regulation;
2. whether the aforementioned confined space is located underground; and
3. whether the work involves any pipework which would have specified risk associated with atmospheric hazard.

In the Code of Practice for Safety and Health at Work in Confined Spaces, “atmospheric hazard” (空氣危害) refers to the presence of gases, vapours, dusts, fumes, smoke or oxygen-deficient air in a confined space, which potentially causes harm to the safety and health of persons staying in the confined space.

“Standby person” means when a certified worker works in the confined space, another person, namely the “standby person”, shall be assigned in accordance with section 8(b) of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Confined Spaces) Regulation to be stationed outside the confined space to maintain communication with the worker inside the confined space and be responsible for contacting the emergency rescue team when necessary. The “standby person” shall have sufficient physical strength to be capable of pulling workers out of the confined space. The “standby person” may use mechanical devices to assist him when he is pulling the worker out of the confined space. Even in case of emergency, the standby person should not enter the confined space. A standby person should be a “certified worker” or “competent person” as defined by the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Confined Spaces) Regulation.

“Permit-to-work Certificate” refers to a certificate for entering a confined space issued by the proprietor or contractor responsible for the confined space work before a worker enters the confined space for the first time after receiving a risk assessment report completed by a competent person and verifying that the risk assessment report covers all the matters specified in section 5(2) of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Confined Spaces) Regulation and all necessary safety precautions have been taken. The Code of Practice for Safety and Health at Work in Confined Spaces provides a template of “Permit-to-work Certificate” in Appendix II that the responsible proprietor or contractor should make reference to in order to ensure that the “Permit-to-work Certificate” complies with all the elements stipulated in the Regulation. 

If the proprietor or contractor authorises a person to issue a “Permit-to-work Certificate”, the person should have sufficient knowledge of working in confined spaces and the safety precautions to be taken. In general, the authorised person should be a “competent person” as interpreted under the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Confined Spaces) Regulation. Since the person issuing the “Permit-to-work Certificate” needs to verify the contents of the risk assessment report as mentioned above, the person being authorised to issue the “Permit-to-work Certificate” should not be the competent person who completed the risk assessment report. Moreover, the person issuing the “Permit-to-work Certificate” should also clearly explain the content of the “Permit-to-work Certificate” to all workers and relevant persons involved in the confined space.

During the risk assessment, if the competent person considers that the working environment may change adversely, he must recommend continuous monitoring or periodic monitoring of the working environment. The purpose of air monitoring is to ensure that the ventilation is adequate and that the atmospheric hazards inside the confined space are within an acceptable safety level. For example, continuous air monitoring is required for underground pipework or confined spaces present sludge or atmospheric hazard. The air monitoring equipment should have alarm system to alert workers to take appropriate actions correspondingly.

The Commissioner for Labour has approved a list of Breathing Apparatuses for use in confined spaces under Section 12 of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Confined Spaces) Regulation, Chapter 59AE. Please refer to the list of approved breathing apparatuses (PDF) for details.

The approved Breathing Apparatus must be used as the configuration listed in the gazette, which is also covered in the list of approved breathing apparatus above.  Moreover, the air quality supplied by approved Breathing Apparatus and air supply device should comply with the most up-to-date and recognised international or national standard, e.g. BS EN 12021, GB/T 31975 or equivalent.

When the optional use of an additional air supply device is specified in the gazette of the approved Breathing Apparatus, the relevant requirements of the configuration approved shall also be followed. The duty holders must ensure that the selection and use of air supply devices conform to the Breathing Apparatus manufacturer’s instructions, including (but not limited to) the required supplying air flowrate and pressure according to the number of users and the length of hose to the users. Moreover, duty holders should select suitable electric air compressors to avoid air supplied by the compressors being contaminated. 

In case of doubt, duty holders should seek professional advice from the Breathing Apparatus manufacturer.
 
Attention: You are reminded to use any cylinder approved by the Director of Fire Services pursuant to regulations 64 and 66 of Dangerous Goods (General) Regulations, Cap.295B. For details, please visit the following website of the Fire Services Department: https://www.hkfsd.gov.hk/eng/source/safety/regulation_GCAE.pdf (PDF)