Duties of Authorized Attendant - Other Duties

Attendants must summon rescue or emergency services whenever they think an entrant might need help escaping a confined space in a dangerous situation. This may mean alerting the rescue staff that the employer has hired to have on hand, or calling 911.

Attendants must keep all unauthorized people out of the space. It is dangerous for someone who is unauthorized to be inside a confined space, since that person have not been trained for working in the space. If anyone else tries to enter the space, the attendant must do the following:

• Warn unauthorized individuals that they must stay away from the space
• If the unauthorized individuals have already entered the space, tell them to leave immediately and inform both the entrant and the supervisor

If an attendant needs to perform a rescue, the attendant should attempt to do so without entering the space, if possible. An attendant may enter the space only if someone else has taken over his or her duties as attendant, and only if the attendant has been authorized and trained to perform a rescue. Otherwise, both the attendant and the entrant are placed at greater risk.

An attendant should not do anything that could interfere with his or her ability to keep watch and protect the entrant. This includes distractions coming from other jobs. If someone asks an attendant to leave an area and help with something else, the attendant may not leave until he or she has been relieved by another trained attendant.

To learn more about Confined Spaces visit our Construction Confined Spaces Online Training web page.