Abstract: An improved safety collar (10) for a manway system (24) provides a tapered component for guiding the collar into an aperture of a manway lid (28), thus preventing the collar from snagging an edge of the aperture and holding the lid in an open position. The safety collar is defined by an annular wall with a smooth outer surface (12) and a threaded inner surface (14). A chamfered rim (16) of the collar presents an annular sloping surface (18) generally sloping inwardly and upwardly from the outer surface to the inner surface. When the collar is threaded onto a bolt (66) of the bolt assembly, the chamfered rim (16) of the collar guides the collar into an aperture (58) of the manway lid, such as when the lid is lowered into position against a base (26) of the manway system.