Keep Your Workers Safe When An Excavation Is In Progress

Asking an excavation company to create a trench on a construction site is normal. But for new construction workers who learned how to work around trenches in theory, but who have not had any real-world experience yet, you and the excavation company need to ensure the work area is set up in a way that protects those new workers while making it easier for the excavation crew to get the job done. These tactics should really be put to use any time there is an excavation project happening on the site, but with newer workers, they become more urgent. Trenches are not to be taken lightly in terms of safety.

Set up a No-Go Zone Around the Trench

Those who work on and in the trench should be the only ones allowed within a certain radius. For others, set up a no-go zone – mark it with caution tape and stakes if needed –where workers shouldn't be able to wander. You'll already have to mark the trench location anyway, so adding this extra barrier won't take too long. The soil at the edges of the excavated area can be unstable, so keeping unauthorized workers well away means fewer people who might stumble on loose soil.

That Includes Heavy Equipment

The excavation crew will have to bring in heavy equipment, of course, but everything else needs to be stored outside that no-go zone. Heavy equipment compresses soil, and if part of the soil is unstable, as it can be at the edge of a trench, the soil can collapse. That will injure or possibly kill anyone in the trench, destroy the work and damage the equipment. Keep everything that does not need to be next to the excavation site well away.

Secure Items Around the Trench and Perform Daily Inspections

Strong winds and bad weather can blow lighter items around, including blowing them right into that trench. Coordinate with the excavation crew to inspect the trench every day before people start work, and ensure that anything light near the trench is secured well. You don't want unauthorized workers trying to sneak into the trench to retrieve an item, and you don't want anything interfering with the work that needs to be done.

These cautions will eventually become second nature to your newer workers, and most of them, if not all, will be very good about following safety guidelines to begin with. Until you're sure that these workers have internalized how to act around excavated trenches on the construction site, however, be extra careful to help them stay safe. For more tips, contact a local excavation service.

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