Learn everything you need to know about excavation safety—OSHA trenching and excavation standards, hazards, safety measures, and more.
Excavation Safety is a standardized set of safety precautions for trenching and excavation to eliminate hazards and control risks in compliance with regulations. It is also referred to as Trenching and Excavation Safety as often cited by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
OSHA excavation standards are specifications of requirements for trenching and excavation, including protective systems. In U.S. federal regulations , OSHA standards for excavations and backfilling are specifically found in Title 29 (Labor) Part 1926 (Safety and Health Regulations for Construction) Subpart P (Excavations), or 29 CFR 1926 subpart P. The excavation regulation also contains appendices for the following:
The scope and application of excavation standards states that excavations include trenches which means that a trench is a type of excavation. Moreover, a trench is further defined as a narrow excavation in relation to its length, and it is generally greater in depth than width. The main difference is that “excavation” is the umbrella term that encompasses any man-made cut in an earth surface, including trenches. While a trench can be called a trench excavation and all trenches are excavations, not all excavations are made up of trenches only.
Excavation and trenching are amongst the most dangerous operations in the construction industry. Dangers can include cave-ins, falling loads, hazardous atmospheres, and hazards from using heavy equipment. Regular pre-work inspections can reduce hazards and serious risk of injury. Safety inspections should check for the type of excavation being conducted, support and warning systems in place, access areas, weather conditions, heavy equipment, PPE, and other assets needed.
“As any man-made cut, cavity, trench, or depression in the Earth’s surface formed by earth removal,” according to the OHSA definition , excavations involve many hazards. Here are some of the dangers brought by excavations:
An OSHA investigation reported that the main reason why trenches collapse is that they are not properly protected. Protective systems such as sloping the ground, benching the ground, shoring the trench with supports such as planking or hydraulic jacks, and shielding the trench using a trench box should be properly implemented at all times. Other excavation safety measures include:
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OSHA requires employers to implement protective measures for the safety of employees, contractors, and subcontractors before they can work on and near excavations. Here are some examples of excavation protection:
Undoubtedly, great training plays an essential role to deliver excavation safety. Common excavation course content usually discusses basic definitions, pre-planning, and protective systems. With today’s technology, you can easily deliver and track excavation safety training across multiple sites from wherever you are.
Now, you can effectively train your team through an excavation and trenching course you can create using SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor)’s Training. Be able to monitor and track your workers’ skill development and refresher progress using one platform, making sure they get the knowledge and training they need. This way, you can standardize and reinforce best practices in your organization and prioritize their safety while maintaining quality work.
Another way to help reinforce excavation safety is by conducting toolbox talks regularly. Listed below are sample ideas of relevant excavation safety topics you can talk about with your team:
To protect workers from injuries and fatalities, preventive measures should be implemented when workers begin excavating. According to OSHA, general safety measures to follow should cover the following:
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A regular excavation risk assessment can help improve excavation safety in the workplace. SafetyCulture is a mobile-ready app that helps ensure safety protocols were followed by employees before commencing excavation works.
With SafetyCulture, a competent person can perform excavation risk assessment anytime, anywhere, on any mobile device—even when offline. They can capture photo evidence of noncompliance with excavation safety protocols and generate excavation risk assessment reports instantly with a tap of a finger. They can easily share, access, and review these reports as it is automatically stored in a cloud.
Daily excavation safety inspections are ideally conducted before shift starts and, as deemed necessary, during work. Replace your paper-based excavation inspection forms with free digital excavation templates you can use with the SafetyCulture Excavation Safety Software . Available on Android, iOS, and the web, use SafetyCulture to t ake photos of excavation hazards, schedule inspections for your officials in the field, and generate PDF reports in real-time on your smartphone.
A competent person in excavation safety is an individual, designated by the employer, who has the authorization to take immediate corrective actions to eliminate excavation-related hazards that are dangerous to workers. Moreover, an excavation competent person should be able to classify soil, clear sites safely, inspect protective systems, design structural ramps, monitor water removal or dewatering equipment, and perform site inspections.
The 5-foot rule in excavation is a safety practice that states that unless the pit is made entirely in stable rock, trenches 5 feet deep or greater require the use of a protective system. If, however, the excavation is under 5 feet, a competent person may decide whether a protective system is necessary or not.
The 5 4 3 2 1 rule is a safety guideline for excavation work that helps prevent accidents and injuries. They are as follows
A cave-in is probably the deadliest excavation hazard, where walls can suddenly collapse without warning, workers do not have time to move out of the way, and cubic yards of dirt can fatally crush and suffocate. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data reveals that 3 out of 4 excavation-related fatalities are caused by cave-ins.
Jona Tarlengco is a content writer and researcher for SafetyCulture since 2018. She usually writes about safety and quality topics, contributing to the creation of well-researched articles. Her years of experience in one of the world’s leading business news organisations helps enrich the quality of the information in her work.
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