# WAC 296-809-20002: WAC 296-809-20002. Identify permit-required confined spaces

> Washington · Regulations · In force

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_20002

## Section

- **Citation:** WAC 296-809-20002
- **Heading:** WAC 296-809-20002. Identify permit-required confined spaces
- **Jurisdiction:** Washington
- **Kind:** Regulations
- **Status:** In force
- **Text as of:** August 14, 2026
- **Source:** Compiled text
- **Location:** Washington Administrative Code / Title 296 / Chapter 296-809 / Section 296-809-20002

## Text

You must identify all permit-required confined spaces in your workplace. Use a person with the knowledge, skills, and abilities, capable of identifying actual and potential hazards related to permit-required confined spaces and with the authority to take prompt corrective action, such as an entry supervisor or competent person.
Important: Identification of Permit-Required Confined Space(s) involves a two-step process.
Step 1: Identify confined spaces.
Confined space. A space that is all of the following:
• Large enough and arranged so an employee could fully enter the space and work.
• Has limited or restricted entry or exit. Examples of spaces with limited or restricted entry are tanks, vessels, silos, storage bins, hoppers, vaults, excavations, and pits.
• Not primarily designed for continuous human occupancy.
See Appendix A Frequently Asked Questions and Examples of Confined Spaces by visiting the labor and industries website at http://www.lni.wa.gov/safety/rules/chapter/809/.
Step 2: Evaluate the actual and potential hazards of each confined space to identify the permit-required confined space(s).
Permit-required confined space or permit space. A confined space that has one or more of the following characteristics capable of causing death or serious physical harm.
• Contains or has a potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere.
• Contains a material with the potential for engulfing someone who enters.
• Has an internal configuration that could allow someone entering to be trapped or asphyxiated by inwardly converging walls or by a floor, which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross section.
• Contains any physical hazard. This includes any recognized health or safety hazards including engulfment in solid or liquid material, electrical shock, or moving parts.
• Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard that could either:
(a) Impair the ability to self-rescue; or
by inwardly converging walls or by a floor, which slopes downward and tapers to a smaller cross section.
• Contains any physical hazard. This includes any recognized health or safety hazards including engulfment in solid or liquid material, electrical shock, or moving parts.
• Contains any other recognized serious safety or health hazard that could either:
(a) Impair the ability to self-rescue; or
(b) Result in a situation that presents an immediate danger to life or health.
See Appendix B Examples of Permit-Required Confined Space Hazards by visiting the labor and industries website at http://www.lni.wa.gov/safety/rules/chapter/809/.

## Nearby sections

- [WAC 296-809-099 WAC 296-809-099. Definitions](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_099.md)
- [WAC 296-809-100 WAC 296-809-100. Scope](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_100.md)
- [WAC 296-809-200 WAC 296-809-200. Identify and control entry into permit-required confined spaces](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_200.md)
- [WAC 296-809-300 WAC 296-809-300. Permit-required confined space program](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_300.md)
- [WAC 296-809-400 WAC 296-809-400. Employee training](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_400.md)
- [WAC 296-809-500 WAC 296-809-500. Permit entry procedures](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_500.md)
- [WAC 296-809-600 WAC 296-809-600. Alternative methods](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_600.md)
- [WAC 296-809-20002 WAC 296-809-20002. Identify permit-required confined spaces](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_20002.md)
- [WAC 296-809-20004 WAC 296-809-20004. Inform employees and control entry to permit-required confined spaces](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_20004.md)
- [WAC 296-809-20006 WAC 296-809-20006. Follow these requirements when you contract with another employer to enter your confined space](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_20006.md)
- [WAC 296-809-30002 WAC 296-809-30002. Develop a written permit-required confined space program](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_30002.md)
- [WAC 296-809-30004 WAC 296-809-30004. Meet these additional requirements if your employees enter another employer's confined space](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_30004.md)
- [WAC 296-809-40002 WAC 296-809-40002. Provide employee training](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_40002.md)
- [WAC 296-809-40004 WAC 296-809-40004. Certify employee proficiency](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_40004.md)

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_WA_ADC_296_809_20002. Check the current official text before relying on it. Not legal advice.