Managing Health and Safety Risks (No. 27): Confined spaces

This guide from law firm Browne Jacobson expands on an article published in the June 2013 issue, from the Institution’s Health and Safety Panel.

This article focuses on the design and inspection of scaffolds. Based on UK practice and experience, the principles should be universally applicable.

In developed countries, the space below ground is littered both with debris from past construction and with utility services — some active, some redundant. Risks from overhead services mostly relate to power lines, which may be fouled by crane jibs, scaffolding poles or plant. This short article discussed how the associated risks are best controlled.