Environmental Health & Safety

Confined Spaces

At UCR certain areas are considered "confined spaces" because they are not designed for continuous occupancy, have limited or restricted means for entry or exit, and may have additional hazards that could cause serious injury or death. Examples of confined spaces include, but are not limited to, tanks, boilers, crawl spaces, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, pits, manholes, tunnels, equipment housings, ductwork, pipelines, and more. 

There are two types of confined spaces: permit required confined spaces and non-permit confined spaces. Only trained and authorized employees may enter any confined space. If the space has has significant hazards it requires a permit to enter. The permit must be authorized by a trained supervisor prior to employee entry. A 4-gas meter is available for checkout from EH&S and is required equipment for all entries. Once an entry is complete, the permit must be sent (paper or electronic) to ehssafety@ucr.edu for recordkeeping.

For training and additional information about this program review the materials listed below and/or contact EH&S Safety for assistance.

Confined Space Written Program

Campus Confined Space Inventory

Confined Space Entry Permit

QRAE3 4-gas meter- for checkout please arrange in advance with EH&S Industrial Hygiene via email ehsih@ucr.edu or call EH&S at 951-827-5528  QRAE3 manual and quick start guide

Cal/OSHA Regulation 8 CCR 5157