# SWP - Confined Space Entry and Rescue

> Fire Service Safety Management System, version 0.3.3 (2026-10-25). The Human Factor. Document FSSMS-SWP-19.
>
> Canonical: https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-confined-space-entry-and-rescue
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> Adopting this procedure without the training, equipment, supervision, verification and resources to carry it out as written increases municipal and command liability in a regulatory investigation or a fatality inquiry. See [00a Copyright, Licence and Legal Notices](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/copyright-licence-and-legal-notices).

> **Speak up: Speak up**
>
> Anyone can stop this task if it looks wrong. Say the hazard, then the action: “Stop, nobody in, the meter is in alarm.” The rescue group supervisor acknowledges, holds, and reviews it later for learning. Debrief question for this task: what did we know about the atmosphere when the first member reached the opening, and how did we know it?

## 1. Task and when this applies

Part A: any planned, non-emergency entry by a member into a confined space (training props, station pits and tanks, vessel voids, inspections, contracted standby). Part B: emergency rescue from a confined space at the department’s declared level ([Confined Space Program](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/confined-space-program) section 5.1). The attendant, monitoring and supplied-air rules apply to both. Part A entries follow the full regulated entry process; the firefighter exemption, where the applicable law gives one, applies only to emergency rescue and only if the training is in place ([J17 Confined Space](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/j17-confined-space)).

## 2. Hazards

- Oxygen deficiency or enrichment; flammable and explosive atmospheres; toxic gases (carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, chlorine, solvents) at or above exposure limits; atmospheres that change during the entry.
- Engulfment by liquids and flowing solids; configuration traps (sloping floors, converging walls).
- Mechanical and electrical energy: agitators, pumps, conveyors, valves, live circuits.
- Entrapment and entanglement of the retrieval line; openings too small for an entrant with PPE and rescue equipment.
- Heat, cold, noise, poor visibility, biological hazards, falls into vertical spaces.
- The would-be-rescuer pattern: more than half of confined space deaths are people who went in to help (CSA Z1006:23).

## 3. Controls in hierarchy order

1.  **Elimination.** Do not enter: non-entry retrieval, reach and line, or the site’s own means. Spaces nobody needs to enter are locked and signed.
2.  **Substitution.** Remote monitoring and cameras; work done from outside the space.
3.  **Engineering.** Isolation and lockout; purging and continuous mechanical ventilation; rated retrieval systems; intrinsically safe lighting and radios; supplied-air respirators.
4.  **Administrative.** Hazard assessment, entry permit, attendant, entry log, communication plan, rescue plan, action levels tighter than the legal limits, the attendant-never-enters rule, the back-up-team rule, pre-plans (CSA Z1006:23).
5.  **PPE.** Positive-pressure SCBA or supplied-air respirator with escape cylinder; rescue harness to the NFPA life safety harness requirements [(NFPA 2500, 2022, ch. 24 to 28)](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-confined-space-entry-and-rescue#ref-nfpa-2500); technical rescue helmet, gloves, eye protection [(NFPA 1950, 2025)](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-confined-space-entry-and-rescue#ref-nfpa-1950); chemical protective clothing where the assessment calls for it.

## 4. Required PPE and equipment

Calibrated and bump-tested multi-gas detector with a pump and tubing; a second detector for the attendant; SCBA or supplied-air respirators with escape cylinders for the entry and back-up teams; rescue harnesses; rated tripod, davit or winch with retrieval line; rope and hardware from the logged rescue kit; ventilation fan with ducting (explosion-proof where flammables are possible); intrinsically safe lighting and radios; lockout kit; entry permit ([Form - Confined Space Entry Permit](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/form-confined-space-entry-permit)) and entry log; patient packaging for horizontal and vertical extraction; medical equipment and oxygen for rescuers; a charged hoseline at the opening where flammables are possible; signs and barricades.

## 5. Minimum staffing and competencies

Part A: a competent person to assess and certify the space; an attendant; the entrant(s); a rescue capability (non-entry or the department’s team) ready before entry. Part B: entry team of two, back-up team of two dressed at the portal, an attendant, a rescue group supervisor, an incident safety officer, medical; a trained atmospheric tester. Every role holds the training in [Confined Space Program](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/confined-space-program) section 7 on the retraining interval the applicable regulation sets ([J17 Confined Space](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/j17-confined-space)).

## 6. Step-by-step procedure

**Part A: planned entry**

1.  Identify the space in the inventory; the competent person completes the hazard assessment on the permit, recording the hazards as they are before any ventilation or PPE is counted.
2.  **Isolate and lock out** every energy source and every line that could introduce a product, per [SWP - Lockout and Shop Safety](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-lockout-and-shop-safety); verify by test; attach the lockout record.
3.  **Purge** the atmosphere at least twice where practicable and **ventilate**; set continuous ventilation if the assessment calls for it.
4.  **Test the atmosphere** at the top, middle and bottom with a bump-tested, calibrated detector; wait for the pump and tubing delay; record on the permit. **Decision point: oxygen within the provincial range, flammables below the department’s action level (10 percent LEL), every contaminant below its exposure limit? If not, no entry; ventilate and retest, or stop.**
5.  **Brief** the attendant, the entrants and the rescue capability: the hazards, the task, the communication method and back-up, the evacuation signal, the rescue plan.
6.  **Rig retrieval:** harness on every entrant attached at the dorsal or overhead D-ring to a retrieval line on a rated tripod, davit or winch; confirm the line will not foul on the route.
7.  **Complete and post the permit** (certification by the competent person, valid no longer than the provincial maximum), with the rescue plan written on it; the attendant starts the entry log.
8.  **Enter** on supplied air where the atmosphere is unknown, oxygen-deficient or could exceed a limit; monitor continuously; the attendant maintains communication at the agreed interval and keeps the count.
9.  **Any alarm, any loss of communication, any change in conditions: everyone out.** The attendant orders evacuation and activates the rescue plan; the attendant never enters.
10. **Close** the entry: count everyone out, record times, remove lockout only when the space is clear, cancel the permit, file it for the provincial period.

**Part B: emergency rescue**

11. **Size up from outside:** what the space is, who is inside and for how long, what put them down, what the site knows (hazard assessment, permit, isolation, monitoring); where the site’s own retrieval line is. Establish the rescue group, the attendant and the ISO; keep everyone, including the site’s workers, away from the opening.
12. **Monitor from outside** at the opening and at depth; treat every unknown atmosphere as IDLH.
13. **Non-entry first.** If the patient is on a retrieval line, retrieve. If a reach or a line can be passed without entry, do that.
14. **Isolate** every energy source the site can identify; where it cannot, the incident commander decides and records whether the entry proceeds.
15. **Ventilate**; a charged line at the opening where flammables are possible; intrinsically safe lighting and radios. **Decision point: flammables at or above the department’s action level after ventilation? No entry. Oxygen outside the range or contaminants above limits? Supplied air only, and the decision is the commander’s, recorded.**
16. **Dress the entry team** (two) and the back-up team (two) on supplied air with harnesses and retrieval lines; test communication; the whistle test on any rope system ([SWP - Rope Rescue Systems Rigging and Inspection](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-rope-rescue-systems-rigging-and-inspection)).
17. **Enter** only when the back-up team is at the portal, the attendant has the count, and the rescue plan for the rescuers is briefed; continuous monitoring; air management per [SWP - SCBA Donning, Use and Air Management](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-scba-donning-use-and-air-management).
18. **Reach, assess and package** the patient; retrieve by the line and the device; the entry team follows out on their own lines; nobody stays in to search further without a fresh air calculation and the supervisor’s decision.
19. **After:** rescuers on oxygen and monitored; rehab; patient care; decontamination; count everyone; the attendant’s log and the readings become the incident record.

> **Warning: Stop-work triggers**
>
> Any detector alarm; a detector that failed its bump test or is out of calibration; no attendant at the opening; the back-up team not dressed and at the portal; the retrieval line not attached or fouled; loss of communication; any change in the atmosphere or the space; the site’s lockout cannot be confirmed and the commander has not decided; a member without current training; anyone, of any rank, calling it.

## 7. Emergency and contingency

- **Entrant or rescuer down:** the attendant activates the rescue plan; non-entry retrieval first by the line; the back-up team enters on supplied air only under the supervisor’s order with their own lines; mayday per [SWP - Mayday](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-mayday); medical and oxygen at the opening.
- **Air emergency:** low-air or regulator failure is an immediate exit on the escape cylinder; the attendant calls it to the supervisor.
- **Entrapment of the retrieval line:** the entrant stops and reports; the attendant does not haul blind; the back-up team clears from outside or enters under the rule above.
- **Fire or explosion risk rising:** everyone out; the charged line protects the opening; no re-entry until the atmosphere is below the action level.

## 8. Documentation and reporting

The permit, the entry log and the monitoring readings are the record of every Part A entry, kept for the provincial period. Every Part B response gets an incident report with the readings, the entry decision and the times, and a Tier 1 AAR; any entry rescue, any alarm during entry, any entry without a complete permit, and any near miss goes to Tier 2 ([Incident Investigation and Learning Program](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/incident-investigation-and-learning-program)). Instrument bumps and calibrations are logged ([Confined Space Program](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/confined-space-program) section 17.3).

## 9. Training and review

Entrants, attendants and rescuers retrained on the intervals the applicable regulation sets for each ([J17 Confined Space](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/j17-confined-space)); competent persons assessed annually; an annual timed drill in a representative space. The Technical Rescue Program Improvement Team reviews this procedure at least yearly (some jurisdictions require a yearly review of the entry procedure; [J17 Confined Space](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/j17-confined-space)), after every event in section 8, and on any new space or instrument; the JOHSC is consulted.

## 10. Related

[Confined Space Program](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/confined-space-program); [Policy - Confined Space](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/policy-confined-space); [Form - Confined Space Entry Permit](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/form-confined-space-entry-permit); [SWP - Lockout and Shop Safety](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-lockout-and-shop-safety); [SWP - SCBA Donning, Use and Air Management](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-scba-donning-use-and-air-management); [SWP - Rope Rescue Systems Rigging and Inspection](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-rope-rescue-systems-rigging-and-inspection); [SWP - Mayday](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/swp-mayday); [Respiratory Protection Program](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/respiratory-protection-program); [Checklist - Confined Space, Trench and Rope Rescue](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/checklist-confined-space-trench-and-rope-rescue).

## Jurisdiction requirements

This chapter relies on the following legal requirements, which differ by province and territory. Check your jurisdiction’s section on each topic page before adopting it.

| Topic | What to check in your jurisdiction | Page |
|:---|:---|:---|
| Confined Space | Any exemption for firefighters doing emergency rescue and its conditions, the atmospheric limits, permit validity and retention, and the training and procedure review intervals | [J17 Confined Space](https://thehumanfactor.ca/library/fire-service-safety/j17-confined-space) |

## References

CSA Group. (2023). *CSA Z1006:23, Management of work in confined spaces* (3rd ed.). <https://www.csagroup.org/store/product/CSA_Z1006:23/>

National Fire Protection Association. (2022). *NFPA 2500, Standard for operations and training for technical search and rescue incidents and life safety rope and equipment for emergency services* (consolidates NFPA 1670, 1858 and 1983). <https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/nfpa-2500-standard-development/2500>

National Fire Protection Association. (2025). *NFPA 1950, Standard on personal protective equipment for technical rescue incidents, emergency medical operations, and wildland and urban interface firefighting* (consolidates NFPA 1951, 1977 and 1999). <https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/nfpa-1950-standard-development/1950>