Confined Space: What is a confined space

All 14 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

1. Which of these is a typical example of a confined space?

   1. A staffed control room with air handling
   2. A school classroom with large windows
   3. A storage tank entered through a manhole
   4. An office boardroom

2. Unless a competent person has decided otherwise after a risk assessment, how should a confined space be treated?

   1. As safe if it was safe yesterday
   2. As safe once the lid is open
   3. As hazardous
   4. As safe if it smells normal

3. Why is a confined space often more dangerous than an ordinary work area?

   1. Only new workers are ever assigned to work in confined spaces
   2. Confined spaces are never inspected by health and safety officers
   3. Conditions can change quickly and escape and rescue are harder
   4. Workers inside are always paid less than other workers on site

4. A worker reaches a hand into a 15 cm pipe opening. Does the Confined Spaces Regulation apply?

   1. No, and no other health and safety duties apply to the work at all
   2. Yes, because pipes are always listed as confined spaces in the law
   3. No, but the employer must still take every reasonable precaution
   4. Yes, because any body part breaking the plane counts as a full entry

5. In the regulation, what is "related work"?

   1. Paperwork about the entry done later in the office after the shift
   2. Work near a confined space that directly supports the work inside
   3. Work done inside a second confined space nearby at the same time
   4. Any work done anywhere on the same site on the same day

6. Roughly what share of confined space deaths are would-be rescuers?

   1. About 25 per cent
   2. About 5 per cent
   3. About 60 per cent
   4. Almost none

7. A walk-in freezer could, in theory, have a refrigerant leak. Is it a confined space under Ontario's regulation?

   1. No, because freezers are covered only by the food safety rules
   2. Yes, because a freezer has only one door and no windows to escape
   3. No, it is designed and built for continuous human occupancy
   4. Yes, because any room with a possible gas leak is a confined space

8. Which feature is part of B.C.'s definition of a confined space but not Ontario's?

   1. Limited or restricted entry or exit that may complicate rescue
   2. Being large enough for a worker to enter and do the work
   3. Not being designed or intended for continuous human occupancy
   4. Being fully or partly enclosed on several sides of the space

9. Which statement about the size of confined spaces is correct?

   1. A confined space must be smaller than a car
   2. A confined space is not necessarily small
   3. A confined space must have one opening
   4. A confined space must be underground

10. Under Ontario's regulation, which two conditions make an enclosed space a confined space?

    1. Used to store chemicals, and is entered more than once a week
    2. Located below ground level, and has no electric lighting inside
    3. Not built for continuous occupancy, and atmospheric hazards may occur
    4. Smaller than 2 m across, and has only one door or hatch for access

11. Under what condition can a trench or ditch be a confined space?

    1. When access or exit is limited
    2. Never, because it is open to the sky
    3. Only when it is under a building
    4. Only when it is filled with water

12. When does entry into a confined space legally begin in Ontario?

    1. Only after the worker has been inside for one full minute
    2. As soon as any part of the body breaks the plane of the opening
    3. Only when the worker's whole body is inside the space
    4. Only when the worker's feet touch the floor at the bottom of it

13. What should be the first question before planning a confined space entry?

    1. Is the space cooler than the outside air today?
    2. How fast can the job be finished once inside?
    3. Can the work be done without entering the space?
    4. Which worker is the smallest and can fit best?

14. A space normally has a gas hazard, but fans run continuously to control it. Is it still a confined space?

    1. No; once the ventilation runs, the regulation stops applying to it
    2. No; only spaces without any fans are covered by the regulation
    3. Yes, but only on days when the fans are shut down for repair
    4. Yes; controlling a hazard does not eliminate the possibility of it