Training Staff

Mark and locate services: Employers must ensure all gas, electrical and other services are located or marked in or near the area to be excavated. If a service poses a hazard, it must be shut off and disconnected before the excavation activity begins. If a potentially hazardous service cannot be disconnected, the service owner must be asked to supervise its uncovering during the excavation

Adjacent structures: Constructors must prevent damage to adjacent structures by engaging a professional engineer who must specify in writing the precautions to be taken

Soil strength: The soil type will determine the strength and stability of excavation walls. You can determine the soil you have encountered and protect the excavation walls from collapsing .Tip: Inspect trenches and excavations following rain, melting snow, thawing earth, and the overflow from nearby streams, storm drains and sewers.

Wall stability: Strip the wall of a trench or excavation of any loose rock or other material that may slide, roll or fall on a worker. Tip: Keep heavy equipment, excavated soil or rock and construction material away from the edges of the trench or excavation

Keep at least one metre of each wall’s upper edge clear of equipment, excavated soil, rock and construction material. Do not position or operate a vehicle or machinery in a manner that could affect the wall’s stability

Work space: Maintain a clear work space of at least 450 millimetres between the wall of an excavation and any formwork, masonry or similar wall

Fall protection: Provide a barrier at least 1.1 metres high at the top if an excavation does not meet regulatory slope requirements and is more than 2.4 metres deep

Protect yourself: Unless walls of a trench are sound and made of solid rock, never enter a trench deeper than 1.2 metres unless it is properly sloped, shored or protected by a trench box. Never work alone in a trench.

Protective systems: Three basic methods can protect workers against trench or excavation cave-ins and other hazards: