Hungarian regulation and practice of confined space works in the water utilities sector

Abstract

In Hungary, public water facilities - drinking water works and wastewater disposal and treatment plants - are operated by companies with a valid water utility licence. During operation, the operator must ensure an organised working schedule, on-call and stand-by service which, in addition to a continuous and reliable service, enables it to intervene immediately in the event of a fault in order to remedy or mitigate operational and environmental damage and to restore service as soon as possible. In many cases, these unplanned interventions can be classified as work with boarding, such as work in manholes or pipelines, repair operations on hydroglobuses (water towers), or even unplanned interventions in waterworks reservoirs. In the course of our work, we summarise the regulation of boarding work in Hungary. We describe the possibilities of employer measures that are part of the regulation. We also compile a list of the most common operations in the water utilities sector and the dangers of boarding, which can be of great help to both those who authorise boarding and those who carry it out.