Digging Through Excavation Hazards
By Mike Rich- Safety Services Company
Published: July 25, 2011
Summary
Excavation and trenching are among the most hazardous construction operations with cave-ins posing the greatest risk.
Other excavation related hazards include falls, falling loads, hazardous atmospheres, and incidents involving mobile equipment. Trench collapses cause dozens of fatalities and hundreds of injuries each year.
To protect workers from the hazards of trenching and excavations OSHA instituted as series of requirements in 1971 and has updated the standard multiple times since.
Among the requirements are that employers use the proper Protective Systems, have in place a competent person and train employees on the dangers of excavations.
Here at Safety Services we offer a simple cost effective training solution to help your company meet OSHA's requirements.
Other excavation related hazards include falls, falling loads, hazardous atmospheres, and incidents involving mobile equipment. Trench collapses cause dozens of fatalities and hundreds of injuries each year.
To protect workers from the hazards of trenching and excavations OSHA instituted as series of requirements in 1971 and has updated the standard multiple times since.
Among the requirements are that employers use the proper Protective Systems, have in place a competent person and train employees on the dangers of excavations.
Here at Safety Services we offer a simple cost effective training solution to help your company meet OSHA's requirements.
Related
- Hand and Power Tools requirements and hazards (July 26, 2011)
- Confined Spaces Hazards and Requirements (July 25, 2011)
- Scaffolding requirements and hazards (July 25, 2011)
Unstable Ground Causes Excavation Hazards
On October 24, 2006, a 29-year-old male Hispanic laborer who was installing water service lines for a newly constructed residential home foundation was killed when a trench wall collapsed. The deceased was one of two laborers working in a nearly vertical, "L"-shaped excavation that was 50 feet long, 9 feet deep, 7 feet wide on top and 6 feet 6 inches wide at the bottom.
On February 1, 2006, a 29-year old male Hispanic landscape laborer died when the two-foot wide, sixteen-foot long and nine-foot deep trench he was working in collapsed and covered him with soil. The victim and four other laborers had been hand digging the trench over a two-day period at a private residence.
These are not isolated incidents.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data show that 271 workers died in trenching or excavation cave-ins from 2000 through 2006. [1]
A review of multiple national databases by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researchers found that trenching and excavation hazards during construction activities resulted in 488 deaths between 1992 and 2000 - an average of 54 fatalities each year. [1]
Small companies make up a large portion of these deaths. Sixty-eight percent of those fatalities occurred in companies with fewer than 50 workers. Forty-six percent of the deaths occurred in small companies with 10 or fewer workers. [1]
The fatality rate for excavation work is 112% higher than the rate for general construction.
All excavations are hazardous because they are inherently unstable. If they are restricted spaces they present the additional risks of oxygen depletion, toxic fumes, and water accumulation. If you are not using protective systems or equipment while working in trenches or excavations at your site, you are in danger of suffocating, inhaling toxic materials, fire, drowning, or being crushed by a cave-in.
While the sheer number of those injuries is staggering, the financial impact they place on employers is overwhelming.
An annual study conducted by the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety in 2010, revealed that the direct cost to employers from injuries in 2008 was $53.42 billion. [2]
Furthermore the study concluded that accidents at the workplace were estimated to cost employers an additional $80 to $200 billion annually.
A second report by the U.S. Department of Labor cemented the finding of the insurance groups report. This report stated the average workplace injury cost an employer $43,000. The same study estimated the cost from wage replacement due to injury to be roughly $50 billion a year.
"An accident at the workplace can often be the difference between operating in the black and falling into the red," said Safety Services CEO Devon Dickenson.
On October 24, 2006, a 29-year-old male Hispanic laborer who was installing water service lines for a newly constructed residential home foundation was killed when a trench wall collapsed. The deceased was one of two laborers working in a nearly vertical, "L"-shaped excavation that was 50 feet long, 9 feet deep, 7 feet wide on top and 6 feet 6 inches wide at the bottom.
On February 1, 2006, a 29-year old male Hispanic landscape laborer died when the two-foot wide, sixteen-foot long and nine-foot deep trench he was working in collapsed and covered him with soil. The victim and four other laborers had been hand digging the trench over a two-day period at a private residence.
These are not isolated incidents.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data show that 271 workers died in trenching or excavation cave-ins from 2000 through 2006. [1]
A review of multiple national databases by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) researchers found that trenching and excavation hazards during construction activities resulted in 488 deaths between 1992 and 2000 - an average of 54 fatalities each year. [1]
Small companies make up a large portion of these deaths. Sixty-eight percent of those fatalities occurred in companies with fewer than 50 workers. Forty-six percent of the deaths occurred in small companies with 10 or fewer workers. [1]
The fatality rate for excavation work is 112% higher than the rate for general construction.
All excavations are hazardous because they are inherently unstable. If they are restricted spaces they present the additional risks of oxygen depletion, toxic fumes, and water accumulation. If you are not using protective systems or equipment while working in trenches or excavations at your site, you are in danger of suffocating, inhaling toxic materials, fire, drowning, or being crushed by a cave-in.
While the sheer number of those injuries is staggering, the financial impact they place on employers is overwhelming.
An annual study conducted by the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety in 2010, revealed that the direct cost to employers from injuries in 2008 was $53.42 billion. [2]
Furthermore the study concluded that accidents at the workplace were estimated to cost employers an additional $80 to $200 billion annually.
A second report by the U.S. Department of Labor cemented the finding of the insurance groups report. This report stated the average workplace injury cost an employer $43,000. The same study estimated the cost from wage replacement due to injury to be roughly $50 billion a year.
"An accident at the workplace can often be the difference between operating in the black and falling into the red," said Safety Services CEO Devon Dickenson.
OSHA Excavation Requirements Checklist
In the above two accidents a strict review by agents from the Center For Disease Control's Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program revealed death was avoidable.
In both incidents the group ruled the employer did not ensure the employee was protected from cave-in by utilizing an adequate protection system such as shoring, sloping or excavation box.
To reduce death and injury in excavations and trenches the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its first excavation and trenching Standard in 1971. Since then, OSHA has amended the standard several times to increase worker protection and to reduce the frequency and severity of excavation accidents and injuries.
Today OSHA's standard is a comprehensive document that requires:
1. Evaluate soil conditions [29 CFR 1926 Subpart P Appendix A] and select appropriate protective systems [29 CFR 1926 Subpart P Appendix F].
2. Construct protective systems in accordance with the standard requirements [29 CFR 1926.652].
3. Preplan; contact utilities (gas, electric) to locate underground lines, plan for traffic control if necessary, determine proximity to structures that could affect choice of protective system.
4. Test for low oxygen, hazardous fumes and toxic gases, especially when gasoline engine-driven equipment is running, or the dirt has been contaminated by leaking lines or storage tanks. Ensure adequate ventilation or respiratory protection if necessary.
5. Provide safe access into and out of the excavation.
6. Provide appropriate protections if water accumulation is a problem.
7. Inspect the site daily at the start of each shift, following a rainstorm, or after any other hazard-increasing event.
8. Keep excavations open the minimum amount of time needed to complete operations.
9. A competent person charged with supervising the excavation.
10. Proper training on site hazards and use of Personal Protection Equipment.
11. Use proper protective systems.
In both incidents the group ruled the employer did not ensure the employee was protected from cave-in by utilizing an adequate protection system such as shoring, sloping or excavation box.
To reduce death and injury in excavations and trenches the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its first excavation and trenching Standard in 1971. Since then, OSHA has amended the standard several times to increase worker protection and to reduce the frequency and severity of excavation accidents and injuries.
Today OSHA's standard is a comprehensive document that requires:
1. Evaluate soil conditions [29 CFR 1926 Subpart P Appendix A] and select appropriate protective systems [29 CFR 1926 Subpart P Appendix F].
2. Construct protective systems in accordance with the standard requirements [29 CFR 1926.652].
3. Preplan; contact utilities (gas, electric) to locate underground lines, plan for traffic control if necessary, determine proximity to structures that could affect choice of protective system.
4. Test for low oxygen, hazardous fumes and toxic gases, especially when gasoline engine-driven equipment is running, or the dirt has been contaminated by leaking lines or storage tanks. Ensure adequate ventilation or respiratory protection if necessary.
5. Provide safe access into and out of the excavation.
6. Provide appropriate protections if water accumulation is a problem.
7. Inspect the site daily at the start of each shift, following a rainstorm, or after any other hazard-increasing event.
8. Keep excavations open the minimum amount of time needed to complete operations.
9. A competent person charged with supervising the excavation.
10. Proper training on site hazards and use of Personal Protection Equipment.
11. Use proper protective systems.
Defining Excavations and Trenches
• "Excavation" means any man-made cut, cavity, trench, or depression in an earth surface, formed by earth removal.
• "Trench (Trench excavation)" means a narrow excavation (in relation to its length) made below the surface of the ground. In general, the depth is greater than the width, but the width of a trench (measured at the bottom) is not greater than 15 feet (4.6 m).
If forms or other structures are installed or constructed in an excavation so as to reduce the dimension measured from the forms or structure to the side of the excavation to 15 feet (4.6 m) or less (measured at the bottom of the excavation), the excavation is also considered to be a trench.
• "Trench (Trench excavation)" means a narrow excavation (in relation to its length) made below the surface of the ground. In general, the depth is greater than the width, but the width of a trench (measured at the bottom) is not greater than 15 feet (4.6 m).
If forms or other structures are installed or constructed in an excavation so as to reduce the dimension measured from the forms or structure to the side of the excavation to 15 feet (4.6 m) or less (measured at the bottom of the excavation), the excavation is also considered to be a trench.
Soil Types
• Gravel– larger than 2 millimeters
• Sand– Smaller than 2 millimeters but larger than 0.075 millimeters
• Silt– Smaller than 0.075 millimeters but larger than 0.002 millimeters
• Clay– Smaller than 0.002 millimeters
• Sand– Smaller than 2 millimeters but larger than 0.075 millimeters
• Silt– Smaller than 0.075 millimeters but larger than 0.002 millimeters
• Clay– Smaller than 0.002 millimeters
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