Excavation and Trenching Safety
For crews, operators, foremen and supervisors who break ground: why trenches collapse, employer duties and the competent person under OSHA 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P, calling 811 and state one-call laws, tolerance zones, vacuum excavation and strike response near gas lines, cables and pipelines, soil classification into stable rock and Types A, B and C, sloping and benching calculations from Appendix B, timber and aluminum hydraulic shoring and trench shields with tabulated data, egress, spoil and edge controls, water, atmospheric testing and confined spaces, daily inspections after rain, trench rescue planning, and a capstone utility trench plan.
HSE-217 12 lessons · 5 h 38 min
Offered by HSM University · Safety Training
This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.
What you'll learn
- Explain how and why excavation walls fail and why shallow trenches can still kill.
- Identify the duties of employers and workers on multi-employer sites, and the main requirements of OSHA 1926 Subpart P and state one-call laws.
- Describe the qualifications and authority of a competent person for excavation work.
- Request, check and maintain locates through 811, including private locates.
- Expose buried facilities safely within the tolerance zone and respond correctly to gas, electrical and other strikes.
- Classify soil using visual and manual tests and recognize conditions that downgrade it.
- Calculate required slopes, top widths and benching geometry for each soil type.
- Select, check and use shoring and trench boxes within their tabulated data.
- Provide safe access, control spoil, mobile equipment and falling loads, and protect the public and adjacent structures.
- Control water, test and ventilate the atmosphere, and recognize when an excavation is a confined space.
- Inspect excavations before each shift and after changes, and plan and lead an emergency response to a trench incident.
- Plan a utility trench excavation from locates to close-out with every hazard controlled.
Course content
12 lessons · 5 h 38 min total · final exam
- 1 Why excavations kill 27 min · quiz
- 2 Law, responsibilities and the competent person 27 min · quiz
- 3 Buried utilities, 811 and locates 27 min · quiz
- 4 Safe digging near buried utilities and strike response 27 min · quiz
- 5 Soil mechanics and soil classification 27 min · quiz
- 6 Sloping and benching 30 min · quiz
- 7 Shoring and shielding 29 min · quiz
- 8 Access, egress, spoil and edges 28 min · quiz
- 9 Water, atmospheres and confined spaces 29 min · quiz
- 10 Inspections and changing conditions 29 min · quiz
- 11 Emergency response and trench rescue 27 min · quiz
- 12 Capstone: planning a utility trench excavation 31 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
For crews, operators, foremen and supervisors who break ground: why trenches collapse, employer duties and the competent person under OSHA 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P, calling 811 and state one-call laws, tolerance zones, vacuum excavation and strike response near gas lines, cables and pipelines, soil classification into stable rock and Types A, B and C, sloping and benching calculations from Appendix B, timber and aluminum hydraulic shoring and trench shields with tabulated data, egress, spoil and edge controls, water, atmospheric testing and confined spaces, daily inspections after rain, trench rescue planning, and a capstone utility trench plan.