Thank you for your question. Trench boxes can be used with complementary systems to safeguard both ends of the excavation, including temporary shoring, sloping, and benching techniques. The utilization of trench boxes shall adhere strictly to manufacturer specifications to ensure the prevention of employee exposure to hazards. For more information, visit LHSFNA.org.
Thank you for your question. When trenches are 5 feet deep or more, contractors are required to implement a protective system. It is the responsibility of a competent person to assess the conditions and determine the appropriate type of protective system required for depths of 5 feet or greater, or for depths less than 5 feet when there is a risk of a cave-in hazard to workers. For more information, visit LHSFNA.org.
As a Michigan Construction Senior Safety Officer with a quarter century of inspections, I take issue with your highly erroneous use of the word "should". What you talk about needs to correctly use the word "shall". Michigan's Part 9, Excavations, Trenching and Shoring uses the term "shall". Anything less and the contractor will do "as little as possible".
Thank you for the comment and the correction. We encourage all contractors to do as much as possible to protect their workers, including going above and beyond OSHA's minimum standards.
@@LHSFNA Too many times I've arrived at sites where the workers, and their bosses didn't know the OSHA requirements. many of the accidents/fatalities were from your local "handyman" doing things he has no business doing. On one job a local handyman was going to replace a drain from a fellow church member's house to the city sewer system. He knew someone who owned a tractor equipped with a backhoe. The man and his son watched as the backhoe operator dug a trench, about 60' from the house to the sewer. It was 18" wide and went from 8 to 9 feet deep. The replacement drain ran next to a garage for the last 20-feet. They had to remove a sidewalk to dig right next to the floor pad. The spoils were piled directly along the edge of the trench. The father and son were in the hole by the sewer. The father informed me that when he worked with plumbing crews, if there was a problem they'd holler and everyone in the hole was supposed to stand up. Presumably so they wouldn't get buried. While the son was bent over making a connection the side (wheer the spoils were piled on collapsed. The father was standing up and was buried to his chest. The son was totally buried under about 3' of dirt. The local fire department was contacted along with a regional trench rescue team. The father was rescued with minor injuries. the son died from asphyxiation. During the rescue/body recovery procedure the mother of the boy was in the house shouting for the team to save her boy. I was there as an observer, but had to warn the rescue team (after it became a body recovery) that: The concrete garage slab had developed a "new crack" parallel to the excavation. Unaware rescue team members were on the garage roof coming into contact with the residential 120/240 volt power line to the house.The rescue team had laid plywood on top of the spoils pile,along the edge of the trench. There was a large number of responders standing on the plywood watching the rescue, but not directly involved. This was adding unnecessary weight and vibration to the soil. additionally no one was paying attention to the soil under the plywood. When they got the people away and looked they saw that the soil had developed cracks parallel to the excavation.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Very informative and well presented!
Great video! It covers some great details about how to stay safe when trenching.
What about plates on either end of the box while anyone is inside the box.
Thank you for your question. Trench boxes can be used with complementary systems to safeguard both ends of the excavation, including temporary shoring, sloping, and benching techniques. The utilization of trench boxes shall adhere strictly to manufacturer specifications to ensure the prevention of employee exposure to hazards. For more information, visit LHSFNA.org.
@1:05 5' what? deep, long, wide?
Thank you for your question. When trenches are 5 feet deep or more, contractors are required to implement a protective system. It is the responsibility of a competent person to assess the conditions and determine the appropriate type of protective system required for depths of 5 feet or greater, or for depths less than 5 feet when there is a risk of a cave-in hazard to workers. For more information, visit LHSFNA.org.
"OSHA defines a trench as longer than it is wide."
Ok. But what if it's wider than it is long?
As a Michigan Construction Senior Safety Officer with a quarter century of inspections, I take issue with your highly erroneous use of the word "should". What you talk about needs to correctly use the word "shall". Michigan's Part 9, Excavations, Trenching and Shoring uses the term "shall". Anything less and the contractor will do "as little as possible".
Thank you for the comment and the correction. We encourage all contractors to do as much as possible to protect their workers, including going above and beyond OSHA's minimum standards.
@@LHSFNA Too many times I've arrived at sites where the workers, and their bosses didn't know the OSHA requirements. many of the accidents/fatalities were from your local "handyman" doing things he has no business doing.
On one job a local handyman was going to replace a drain from a fellow church member's house to the city sewer system. He knew someone who owned a tractor equipped with a backhoe. The man and his son watched as the backhoe operator dug a trench, about 60' from the house to the sewer. It was 18" wide and went from 8 to 9 feet deep. The replacement drain ran next to a garage for the last 20-feet. They had to remove a sidewalk to dig right next to the floor pad. The spoils were piled directly along the edge of the trench.
The father and son were in the hole by the sewer. The father informed me that when he worked with plumbing crews, if there was a problem they'd holler and everyone in the hole was supposed to stand up. Presumably so they wouldn't get buried. While the son was bent over making a connection the side (wheer the spoils were piled on collapsed. The father was standing up and was buried to his chest. The son was totally buried under about 3' of dirt. The local fire department was contacted along with a regional trench rescue team.
The father was rescued with minor injuries. the son died from asphyxiation. During the rescue/body recovery procedure the mother of the boy was in the house shouting for the team to save her boy. I was there as an observer, but had to warn the rescue team (after it became a body recovery) that:
The concrete garage slab had developed a "new crack" parallel to the excavation. Unaware rescue team members were on the garage roof coming into contact with the residential 120/240 volt power line to the house.The rescue team had laid plywood on top of the spoils pile,along the edge of the trench. There was a large number of responders standing on the plywood watching the rescue, but not directly involved. This was adding unnecessary weight and vibration to the soil. additionally no one was paying attention to the soil under the plywood. When they got the people away and looked they saw that the soil had developed cracks parallel to the excavation.