DES PLAINES, Ill. — The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) recently introduced the American National Standard Z117.1-2003, “Safety Requirements for Confined Spaces.” According to ASSE, the newly revised standard establishes the minimum safety requirements for confined space operations. The new standard addresses such topics as identification and evaluation, emergency response and rescue, permit and nonpermit requirements, atmospheric testing, isolation and decontamination, lockout-tagout, warning sign requirements, and personal protection equipment.

The standard was approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in February and is a revision of the 1995 standard.

Publication date: 05/05/2003