Excavation Safety – Trench Shoring, Sloping, and Benching
Regulatory Requirement Summary
Construction Industry . – Excavation Standards – CCR Title 8 Sections 1539 – 1543 (California OSHA), 29 CFR Subpart P (Federal OSHA)
Excavation Safety – Trench / Shoring Safety
OSTS offers a couple levels of Excavation Safety training for our clients. The courses are User / Worker Safety and Competent Person Preparation
Excavation user / worker course
This 4-hour class covers the OSHA requirements pertaining to excavations, trenching and sloping techniques, protective systems, and soils classification with an introduction to fall protection safety.
NOTE: Cal OSHA expressly requires fall protection when working at the face os a trench where the next lowest level is equal to or exceeds seven and a half (7.5′) feet. Cal OSHA regulates this through CCR Title 8 Section 1670(a). Fed OSHA, as of this writing, expressly excludes trench face work from fall protection requirements.
The training will provide the following information for worker safety: review of approved procedures to be followed; differences between trenches and excavations; training requirements for employees entering trenches and excavations; review of the equipment needed to do their jobs safely; air monitoring requirements; fall protection requirements and sample solutions; and methods and procedures for the required inspections and record keeping. The students will be required to demonstrate a complete understanding of the safe work practices that are to be followed while working in trenches and excavations by the successful completion of a written test.
If the client can provide facilities and equipment for hands-on exercises, OSTS would highly encourage the use of such facilities and equipment.
The purpose of this training is to make sure the employees are working is safe conditions. All participants will receive a student book at the beginning of class – that is theirs to keep.
NOTE: OSHA states there shall be a competent person on all trenching and excavations job sites. The competent person will be responsible for the jobsite that his/her employees are working on. OSHA defines a competent person as one who is capable of identifying hazards in the surrounding or working conditions which are unsanitary and dangerous to employees.
Trench Shoring / Excavation – Competent Person
This class covers the OSHA requirements pertaining to excavations, trenching and sloping techniques, protective systems and soils classification with an overview of fall protection and confined space safety. The differentiation between the User and Competent Person coursework is that the Competent Person class will provide more focus and detail on the regulations, inspections, and obligations / responsibilities required of the Competent Person.
OSHA defines competent person as “one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.”
The definition, therefore, has two distinct parts: the first — “capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees” — comprises a fairly loose standard that many persons might consider themselves qualified to meet. Common sense would dictate that the competent person must have the knowledge, intelligence, and wherewithal to recognize and identify situations and conditions that put workers at risk. Such competence should also include the ability to predict a hazardous situation. Common sense considerations, then, are necessary but not sufficient to meet OSHA criteria. The second part – “who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.” – requires that the Employer provides the necessary authority for the Competent Person to effect immediate corrective actions.
Class duration is 6-8 hours depending on hands on availability.
