Trenching and Excavation Safety What Employers Need to Know

How can ISAWWA help? According to the National Safety Council and the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, there is an average of 35 trenching or ISAWWA has the knowledge excavation cave-in fatalities each year. A single cubic yard of and resources to assist you in dirt/earth can weigh more than 3,000 pounds and a trench can developing a written collapse without any warning signs in less than 1/10th of a Trenching and Excavation second. Safety program that meets regulatory requirements for How are trenches and excavations defined? protection of your employees.

An excavation is defined as any man-made trench, cut or depression created by earth removal. A trench is defined as a narrow underground excavation that is deeper than it is wide and is no wider than 15 feet.

Are trenches and excavations regulated?

Yes. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has established standards that cover trench safety measures, competent person training, access and egress and employee protective systems. The Illinois Department of Labor adopted the OSHA Regulation in 1996 to cover public sector employees. Private sector employees remain governed by OSHA.

Trenches 5 feet deep or greater require a protective system unless the excavation is made entirely in stable rock. Trenches 20 feet deep or greater require that the protective system be designed by a registered professional engineer or be based on tabulated data prepared and/or approved by a registered professional engineer.

What are an employer’s responsibilities?

Regulatory standards require employers to have a competent person conduct inspections of trenches daily and as conditions change before worker entry. A competent person is an individual who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards, working conditions that are hazardous, unsanitary, or dangerous to workers, soil types and required protective systems required. The competent person must be authorized by the employer to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate such hazards and conditions.

Employers must also address surface crossings of trenches, means of ingress and egress, exposure to vehicular traffic, mobile equipment warning systems, exposure to falling loads, hazardous atmospheres, confined space and emergency rescue equipment.