Excavation Safety Measures Quiz

Excavation Safety Regulations

• Signs should be placed to warn people of the excavation.
• Walls of every excavation over 1 m (3 ft) deep should be supported by adequate shoring and timbering to prevent collapse.

Sloping and Shielding Requirements

• Workers shall not enter any excavation over 4 ft in depth unless the sides are sloped to a safe angle.
• No slope can be steeper than 1.5 ft horizontal to 4 ft vertical.

Supervision and Inspection

• An Experienced and Trained Worker should be designated to directly supervise each excavation project to ensure compliance with sloping and shielding requirements.
• Every part of an excavation over 2 m deep should be inspected for evidence of a situation that could result in an accident, including compliance with sloping requirements.

Barricading and Support Systems

• Top of the walls of an excavation more than 2.0 m deep should be barricaded to a height of at least 1 m to prevent the fall of workers, meeting safety requirements.
• Sheet piling is a form of driven piling using thin interlocking sheets of steel to obtain a continuous barrier in the ground.
• Shielding means to protect workers by using trench boxes or other types of supports to prevent soil cave-ins.
• Benching involves protecting workers from cave-ins by excavating the sides of an excavation to form horizontal levels or steps.
• Shoring is a support system designed to keep the sides of an excavation from caving in, and should be installed from top down and removed from bottom up.

Test your knowledge on excavation safety measures such as placing warning signs, diverting traffic, and following OSH requirements. Learn about keeping tools and materials at a safe distance from excavation edges to prevent accidents.