Maintenance of safe conditions.

§ 1915.15 Maintenance of safe conditions. (a) Preventing hazardous materials from entering. Pipelines that could carry hazardous materials into spaces that have been certified “Safe for Workers” or “Safe for Hot Work” shall be disconnected, blanked off, or otherwise blocked by a positive method to prevent hazardous materials from being discharged into the space. (b) Alteration of existing conditions. When a change that could alter conditions within a tested confined or enclosed space or other dangerous atmosphere occurs, work in the affected space or area shall be stopped. Work may not be resumed until the affected space or area is visually inspected and retested and found to comply with §§ 1915.12, 1915.13, and 1915.14 of this part, as applicable. Note to paragraph ( b ): Examples of changes that would warrant the stoppage of work include: The opening of manholes or other closures or the adjusting of a valve regulating the flow of hazardous materials. (c) Tests to maintain the conditions of a Marine Chemist's or Coast Guard authorized person's certificates. A competent person shall visually inspect and test each space certified as “Safe for Workers” or “Safe for Hot Work,” as often as necessary to ensure that atmospheric conditions within that space are maintained within the conditions established by the certificate after the certificate has been issued. (d) Change in the conditions of a Marine Chemist's or Coast Guard authorized person's certificate. If a competent person finds that the atmospheric conditions within a certified space fail to meet the applicable requirements of §§ 1915.12, 1915.13, and 1915.14 of this part, work in the certified space shall be stopped and may not be resumed until the space has been retested by a Marine Chemist or Coast Guard authorized person and a new certificate issued in accordance with § 1915.14(a). (e) Tests to maintain a competent person's findings. After a competent person has conducted a visual inspection and tests required in §§ 1915.12, 1915.13, and 1915.14 of this part and determined a space to be safe for an employee to enter, he or she shall continue to test and visually inspect spaces as often as necessary to ensure that the required atmospheric conditions within the tested space are maintained.” (f) Changes in conditions determined by competent person's findings. After the competent person has determined initially that a space is safe for an employee to enter and he or she finds subsequently that the conditions within the tested space fail to meet the requirements of §§ 1915.12, 1915.13, and 1915.14, of this part, as applicable, work shall be stopped until the conditions in the tested space are corrected to comply with §§ 1915.12, 1915.13, and 1915.14, as applicable. [59 FR 37857, July 25, 1994, as amended at 60 FR 14219, Mar. 16, 1995; 67 FR 44541, July 3, 2002]