Confined Spaces: How to Consider and Manage Human Factors

Episode 132

Confined Spaces: How to Consider and Manage Human Factors

Editor Sydny Shepard discusses hazards found in a confined space and how human factors should be considered with Chason Coelho, Senior Managing Scientist at Exponent.

There is a lot to consider when you are a safety professional. There’s the rules, right? The standards, regulations, guidelines and best practices that set forth safe work for employees but there’s also outside forces that contend with the policies and procedures you so painstakingly put together. Sometimes, those outside forces are human factors that are traditionally incredibly hard to deal with.


On this episode of the podcast, I have with me Dr. Chason Coelho, a Senior Managing Scientist in the Human Factors Practice at Exponent. Chason and I have been talking for nearly a year about bringing him on the podcast to talk about some cognitive effects of safety and I’m so pleased to talk with him today about one of the most dangerous places an employee can work: in a confined space.

During the course of the episode, Chason and I discuss the hazards found in a confined space, how human factors should be considered when planning for confined space procedures and how to mitigate issues that arise due to human factors. 

If you have a topic you'd like us to cover on OH&S SafetyPod, feel free to email us at [email protected].

Download or stream this episode today at Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify and more


About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the former editor of Occupational Health & Safety.

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