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Permit-Required Confined Space Entrant (General Industry)
For authorized entrants in general industry: recognize a permit space and a hazardous atmosphere, check the permit and testing before you go in, use your equipment, stay in contact with the attendant, and get out fast when something is wrong.
Based on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.146 (permit-required confined spaces, general industry) · about 6 min read
Need proof of training? The full course (25 min) adds practice questions, a job scenario, the final quiz and a certificate your employer can verify.
This rule covers general industry. It does not apply to agriculture, construction or shipyard employment, which fall under other parts of OSHA's rules.
A confined space has all three
It is large enough and shaped so a worker can bodily enter and do assigned work
It has limited or restricted means of entry or exit, such as tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults and pits
It is not designed for continuous employee occupancy
It becomes a permit space if it has one or more of these
Hazardous atmosphereIt contains, or could contain, one.
EngulfmentA material that could surround and capture you, such as a liquid or a flowable solid like grain or sand.
Trapping shapeInward-sloping walls, or a floor that slopes down and tapers, that could trap or asphyxiate you.
Any other serious hazardAny other recognized serious safety or health hazard.
When does entry start?
As soon as any part of your body breaks the plane of the opening. Reaching your head or arm through a manway is entry.
Your employer must tell exposed employees where permit spaces are and the danger they pose, by danger signs or another equally effective means.
Before entry begins, the entry supervisor named on the permit must sign it. The completed permit must be available to you at the time of entry, for example posted at the entry portal, so you can confirm the pre-entry preparations are done.
What to look for on the permit
You are listed as an authorized entrant (by name, or on the roster or tracking system it references)
The hazards of the space
The acceptable entry conditions
The test results, with the testers' names or initials and when the tests were done
The rescue and emergency services and how to summon them
The communication procedures between you and the attendant
The equipment provided, such as PPE, testing, communications, alarm and rescue equipment
Any additional permits, such as a hot work permit
The permit is not forever. The entry supervisor must terminate entry and cancel the permit when the work is done, or when a condition not allowed by the permit arises in or near the space.
Your employer must test conditions in the space before entry is authorized, and test or monitor as necessary during entry to make sure acceptable conditions are maintained. As the entrant, you (or your authorized representative) have the right to:
Observe the pre-entry testing and any later testing or monitoring
Get the results of any testing immediately
Ask for a reevaluation of the space, done in your presence, when you have reason to believe the evaluation may not have been adequate
Use these rights. If the readings on the permit are old, missing, or do not match what you see or smell, ask before you enter.
Before you go in you must know the hazards you may face, including how the exposure happens, its signs or symptoms, and its consequences. These are listed on the permit and covered in your employer's training.
Use the equipment properly
Your employer must provide the needed equipment at no cost to you, maintain it, and make sure it is used properly. You must use it properly. It includes, as needed:
Testing and monitoring equipment
Ventilating equipment to get acceptable entry conditions
Communications equipment to stay in contact with the attendant
PPE, where engineering and work practice controls do not adequately protect you
Lighting good enough to work safely and to get out quickly in an emergency
Ladders or other equipment for safe entry and exit
Barriers and shields to protect you from external hazards such as pedestrians and vehicles
Rescue and emergency equipment (except what the rescue service provides)
Any other equipment needed for safe entry into and rescue from the space
Retrieval systems let you be pulled out without anyone else entering. They must be used whenever you enter a permit space, unless the retrieval equipment would increase the overall risk of entry or would not help rescue you.
You wear a chest or full body harness, with the retrieval line attached at the center of your back near shoulder level, above your head, or at another point your employer establishes gives a small enough profile to pull you out.
Wristlets may be used instead only if your employer can demonstrate a harness is infeasible or creates a greater hazard, and wristlets are the safest and most effective alternative.
The other end of the line is attached to a mechanical device or fixed point outside the space, so rescue can begin as soon as it is needed.
For vertical spaces more than 5 feet deep, a mechanical device must be available to retrieve you.
At least one attendant must be outside the space for the whole entry. The attendant stays outside until relieved by another attendant, and summons rescue as soon as they decide you may need help to escape.
Your part
Communicate with the attendant as needed, so they can monitor your status and tell you to evacuate.
Alert the attendant whenever you recognize any warning sign or symptom of exposure to a dangerous situation (your training covers the signs and symptoms for your space's hazards), or you detect a prohibited condition.
A prohibited condition is any condition in the space that the permit does not allow while entry is authorized.
Exit the permit space as quickly as possible whenever:
1. Ordered outThe attendant or the entry supervisor orders you to evacuate.
2. Warning signsYou recognize any warning sign or symptom of exposure to a dangerous situation.
3. Prohibited conditionYou detect a condition the permit does not allow.
4. AlarmAn evacuation alarm is activated.
Do not stay to finish the job, and do not argue with an order to evacuate.
If a coworker goes down inside: your employer's procedures must cover summoning rescue and preventing unauthorized personnel from attempting a rescue. Follow those procedures and alert the attendant. Do not become a second victim.
Fact-checked against the regulation text on October 09, 2026. This certificate records completion of awareness training based on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.146 for the authorized entrant role. It is not an OSHA card or license. Your employer must train you on its own permit space program, spaces, equipment and procedures, certify that training, and provide any required site-specific training and evaluation.
This guide explains the rule in plain words. Always read the regulation itself and your employer's site-specific procedures.