Confined Space

What is a Confined Space?

A confined space can be defined as an enclosed space that has foreseeable specified risks for those tasked with entry.

“Any place including any chamber, vat, silo, pit, trench, pipe, well, or other similar space in which, by virtue of its enclosed nature, there arises a reasonably foreseeable ‘specified risk’”

(Source: Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 – Approved Code of Practice ACOP101)

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Our Services

Construct

From new retaining systems to complex access-led installations, we construct safely, efficiently, and to the highest standards in challenging environments.

Construct

Inspect

We carry out detailed inspections of structures to assess condition, performance, and risk. We reach difficult areas others can’t, providing clear, actionable insights to inform maintenance and long-term asset management.

Inspect

Maintain

Our maintenance services are designed to extend the life of structures and prevent deterioration.

Maintain

Repair

We restore structural integrity through targeted repair solutions tailored to each asset. Whether addressing damage, defects, or ageing materials, our approach focuses on durability, safety, and minimal disruption to operations.

Repair

Confined Space Access at CAN

CAN offers City and Guilds certified Confined Space operatives, estimators and project management teams with extensive experience of undertaking complex rigging and access work in confined spaces.

Whether accessing tunnels, chimneys, drainage systems, sewers or shafts, CAN’s confined space contracting services provide access for working in all types and classifications of confined spaces.

CAN team member working in a confined space with a drill.

Third Party Access Supervision

Supervision and management of confined space access for third parties, including:

The development of suitable safe systems of work in the form of a detailed risk assessment and method statement, developed by an Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) qualified project manager.
Specification and supply of all safety-critical equipment, including escape sets, air monitors, harnesses and winches.
Mobilisation of confined space and confined space rescue teams.

CAN worker in a tube light from underneath.

Confined Space High Risk Working

When specified risks cannot be controlled or when work is a substantial distance from the point of entry, our High-Risk-trained teams are mobilised.
CAN High-Risk trained operatives are proficient in the use of full breathing apparatus, including force-fed air systems, if poor air or noxious gas is present, or will be created by entry, or if the work site is located so far from the entry point that it would not be possible to exit using ‘standard’ equipment.
We ensure the most difficult and high-risk confined space scenarios can be accessed and controlled under a safe system of work.

Confined Space Rescue Cover

Whenever confined space work is undertaken a rescue team is required, subject to risk assessment, in accordance with the Confined Space Regulations 1997.

“No person at work shall enter or carry out work in a confined space unless there have been prepared in respect of that confined space suitable and sufficient arrangements for the rescue of a persons in the event of an emergency, whether or not arising out of a specified risk”.

In the event an operative is injured in a confined space a suitable means of prompt extraction, rescue and recovery is required. CAN regularly deploys high-risk confined space rescue teams that provide rescue cover, enabling quick, safe casualty retrieval.

Confined Space Emergency Stand-by

Emergency stand-by arrangements for confined space working and rescue cover are requested when the requirement to access a confined space cannot be pre-planned but is anticipated.

CAN ensures that suitable, documented safe systems of work, equipment, and personnel are available to respond in the event of an emergency to give you confidence in the safety of your workforce.