Trenching and Excavation: Things To Look Out For

In every trenching or excavation site, there are risks involved and safety should always be provided to every team member working on that site. There should be a competent person present who has the authority to make changes and halt work when there is evidence that safety is being compromised.

Being the competent person, they are in charge of conducting daily inspections of excavations, the adjacent areas, and protective systems. they are also be looking for signs of soil distress, such as fissures or cracks on the excavation face, slumping of material from the excavation face, bulging or heaving of material at the bottom of the excavation wall, sinking of the excavation’s edge, raveling and small amounts of material trickling into the excavation. Also, they must consider nearby vibrating machinery or heavy, moving loads, as well as hot, dry weather.

During trenching and excavation, atmosphere should be checked if it is near sewers, landfills or hazardous substances storage areas. If such condition are present, further evaluation must be done to rule out possibility of endangering stability of adjacent buildings, walls, and other structures. In addition, steadiness of sidewalks and pavements should be evaluated and ascertain that it will not collapse on workers. Proper support, underpinnings, bracing ,and shoring should be utilized to guarantee stability and employee protection.

If there is evidence of water pooling on excavation site, workers should not be allowed to work. A shield system or shoring should be put into play and water removal system facilitated right away. If de-watering is constant and there is a risk of cave-in, everyone in the trench should leave immediately.

In the event of marked underground utilities, there should be warning systems and barricades. Excavations shall be no greater than two feet below the bottom of a shield, which is often designed to stack and can be used in conjunction with sloping and benching. No one shall be permitted inside shields when the shields are being raised, lowered or moved.