ABSTRACT
In the US, accidents involving confined spaces claim an estimated 200 victims per year across industry, agriculture, and the home. The Division of Safety Research of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) commissioned the first quantitative analysis of accidents that occurred in confined spaces. This chapter illustrates the importance of preexisting conditions as causative agents in accidents associated with confined workspaces and confined atmospheres. It aims to develop information about the fundamental elements that comprise these accidents. This information could provide the basis for a model to describe the etiology of these accidents and to identify and highlight areas of deficiency. Accidents associated with confined spaces and confined atmospheres are complex events. They include elements from several areas: technical, procedural, and social. The technical and procedural elements, and the challenges that they pose, are more readily apparent than the social ones. Technical elements include: temporal aspects, characteristics of the space, and conditions at time of entry.
