Key Elements for Entry Permits

DOE-EM-STD-5503-94

permit process guides the supervisor and workers through a systematic evaluation of the space to

be entered. The permit should be used to establish appropriate conditions. Before each entry

into a confined space, an entry permit will be completed by a qualified person and the contents

communicated to all employees involved in the operation and conspicuously posted near the

work location. A standard entry permit should be used for all entries.

13.6.1. Key Elements for Entry Permits

A standard entry permit should contain the following items:

Permit space to be entered;

Purpose of the entry;

Date of the permit and the authorized duration of the entry permit,

Name of authorized entrants within the permit space;

Means of identifying authorized entrants inside the permit space, e.g., rosters or tracking

systems;

Personnel, by name, currently serving as attendants,

Individual, by name, currently serving as entry supervisor, with a space for the signature

or initials of the entry supervisor who originally authorized entry,

Hazards of the permit space to be entered,

Measures used to isolate the permit space and to eliminate or control permit space

hazards before entry, e.g., lockout or tagout of equipment and procedures for purging,

inerting, ventilating, and flushing permit spaces;

Acceptable entry conditions,

Results of initial and periodic tests performed, accompanied by the names or initials of

the testers and by an indication of when the tests were performed;

Rescue and emergency services that can be summoned and the means, (e.g., equipment to

use, phone numbers to call) for summoning those services,

Communication procedures used by authorized entrants and attendants to maintain

contact during the entry,

Equipment to be provided for compliance with this section, (e.g., PPE, testing,

communications, alarm systems, and rescue);

Other information whose inclusion is necessary, given the circumstances of the particular

confined space, in order to ensure employee safety; and

Additional permits, such as for hot work, that have been issued to authorize work in the

permit space.

Appendix D of 29 CFR 1910.146 provides an example permit containing these items.

A permit is only valid for one shift. For a permit to be renewed, several conditions should be

met before each re-entry into the confined space. First, atmospheric testing should be conducted

and the results should be within acceptable limits. If atmospheric test results are not within

acceptable limits, precautions to protect entrants against the hazards should be addressed on the

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