Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 002 Hazard: CONFINED

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment free from recognized hazards that were causing, or likely to cause, death or serious physical harm to employees. Training records were reviewed for 2003, 2004, and 2005. The discussions about confined spaces occurred on 5/26/03 in Spanish but no sign off sheet was available, 11/10/03 in Spanish but no sign off sheet was available, 11/24/03 sign off sheet was documented and in English, 1/21/05 no sign off sheet was available, and 2/25/05 no sign off sheet was available. ANSI/ASSE Z117.1-2003, Safety Requirements for Confined Spaces, Section 15.5.3 under Verification of Training states: Written records of training shall be maintained and include as a minimum: a) employee's name; b) trainer's name; c) date of training; d) training duration; e) training content. ANSI/ASSE Z490.1-2001, Criteria for Accepted Practices in Safety, Health, and Environmental Training, Section 3.2, One of the elements for a training program shall include program documentation and record keeping. One of the elements of Section 3.3.1 states: The training program shall be planned and implemented to assure that adequate information is maintained to provide a history of training events and trainee completion. Section 6.1.3 states: Each trainee or trainer being evaluated shall be properly identified. Section 7.1.1 states: A record keeping system shall be established for controlling all records and documents required by this Standard to ensure that: they are retrievable, readily identifiable, and maintained in an orderly manner; they are current, accurate, legible, and dated; they are retained for a specific period; they meet applicable legislative and regulatory requirements. Section 7.2.2 states: Delivery records for each training event shall identify: the date, location, and duration of training; name and description of the course; the names and qualifications of persons delivering the training; the delivery materials used; the trainees participating in the training; and the trainees successfully completing the training. Among other methods, some feasible and acceptable methods to correct this hazard are: 1. Have foreman provide copies or original documents to be filed and maintained by the employer. 2. Have employees sign off on topic safety sheets when they are discussed during safety and tailgate meetings. 3. Create a database to maintain training records that can be electronically filed. 4. Periodically check that foreman are documenting safety training and meetings.