§ 1926.1203 General requirements.

(a) Before it begins work at a worksite, each employer must 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 must:

(1) Inform exposed employees by posting danger signs or by any other equally effective means, of the existence and location of, and the danger posed by, each permit space; and

(2) Inform, in a timely manner and in a manner other than posting, its employees' authorized representatives and the controlling contractor of the existence and location of, and the danger posed by, each permit space.

(c) Each employer who identifies, or receives notice of, a permit space and has not authorized employees it directs to work in that space must 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 must have a written permit space program that complies with § 1926.1204 implemented at the construction site. The written program must 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 paragraph (e)(2) of this section for entering a permit space only under the conditions set forth in paragraph (e)(1) of this section.

(1) An employer whose employees enter a permit space need not comply with §§ 1926.1204 through 1206 and §§ 1926.1208 through 1211, provided that all of the following conditions are met:

(i) The employer can demonstrate that all physical hazards in the space are eliminated or isolated through engineering controls so that the only hazard posed by the permit space is an actual or potential hazardous atmosphere;

(ii) The employer can demonstrate that continuous forced air ventilation alone is sufficient to maintain that permit space safe for entry, and that, in the event the ventilation system stops working, entrants can exit the space safely;

(iii) The employer develops monitoring and inspection data that supports the demonstrations required by paragraphs (e)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section;