What other excavation hazards do you need to be protected against?
- In addition to cave-ins and related hazards, workers involved in excavation work also are exposed to hazards involving falls, falling loads, and mobile equipment. To protect employees from these hazards, OSHA requires you to take the following precautions:
- Keep materials or equipment that might fall or roll into an excavation at least 2 feet from the edge of excavations, or use retaining devices, or both.
- Provide warning systems such as mobile equipment, barricades, hand or mechanical signals, or stop logs to alert operators to the edge of an excavation.
- Scale the sides of the trench to remove loose rock or soil. Prohibit employees from working on faces of sloped or benched excavations at levels above other employees unless you provide the employees at the lower levels adequate protection from the hazard of falling, rolling, or sliding material or equipment.
- Prohibit employees from standing or working under loads being handled by lifting or digging equipment. Require workers to stand away from vehicles being loaded or unloaded to protect them from being struck by any spillage or falling materials.
- Keep in drivers in their trucks while they are being loaded.
