What Is The Greatest Risk Present At An Excavation Site?

The greatest risk in an excavation is

a cave-in

. Employees can be protected through sloping, shielding, and shoring the excavation. A competent person is responsible to inspect the excavation. Other excavation hazards include water accumulation, oxygen deficiency, toxic fumes, falls, and mobile equipment.

What are the risks of excavation?

• falls from one level to another.
• the fall or dislodgement of earth or rock.
• vibration and hazardous noise.
• exposure to an airborne contaminant .

What is the greatest risk with excavations?

Cave-ins

pose the greatest risk and are more likely than some other excavation-related incidents to result in worker fatalities. One cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a car.

What is the most common and severe hazards during excavation?

1. Cave-ins. Trench collapses kill an average of two workers every month, making this a serious threat to worker safety. …
2. Falls and falling loads. Workers and work equipment can fall into an excavated area. …
3. Hazardous atmospheres. …
4. Mobile equipment. …
5. Hitting utility lines.

Is excavation high risk?

The speed of an excavation collapse increases the risk associated with this type of work and the consequences are significant as the falling earth can bury or crush any person in its path. This can result in death by suffocation or internal crush injuries.

How many people have died during excavations?

A review of multiple national databases by NIOSH researchers found that trenching and excavation hazards during construction activities resulted in

488 deaths between 1992

and 2000 – an average of 54 fatalities each year. Sixty-eight percent of those fatalities occurred in companies with fewer than 50 workers.

What depth do you need shoring?

Trenches

5 feet (1.5 meters) deep or greater

require a protective system unless the excavation is made entirely in stable rock. If less than 5 feet deep, a competent person may determine that a protective system is not required.

How deep is a deep excavation?

Shallow excavations are defined as being anything less than 1.5 metres deep, which really is not very deep at all; a relatively short person could comfortably see over the top. Deep excavations, on the other hand, are defined as being any excavation which is

more than 4.5 metres in depth

– a considerable height indeed.

What is likely to cause an excavation to collapse?

Excavated spoil, plant or materials should not be stored close to the sides of excavations as loose material can fall in.

The extra loading can make the sides of

the excavation more likely to collapse. Prevent people from falling into excavations by substantial barriers around the edges.

How do you protect deep excavation?

Falling or dislodging material. Loose materials – may fall from spoil heaps into the excavation. Edge protection should include toeboards or other means, such as projecting trench sheets or box sides to protect against falling materials.

Head protection should be worn

.

What are 3 main protection methods against cave-ins?

To prevent cave-ins:

SLOPE or bench trench walls

.

SHORE trench walls with supports

, or. SHIELD trench walls with trench boxes.

How far away from the excavation should the spoils be placed?

The recommended minimum distance for location of excavated soil (spoil) from the edge of the excavation is equal to or greater than the excavation depth. However, the minimum permissible distance of spoil from the edge of the excavation is

0.6 metres for every one metre of excavation depth.

What are the safety precautions in excavation work?

Excavations shall have at least one ladder per 15 m of length in case of hazardous work and per 30 m of length in case of less hazardous works. Every part of a trench, in public areas, fences, guards or barricades shall be provided to prevent any accidents.

Excavation areas shall be adequately lighted for night work

.

What are the methods of excavation?

• Archaeological Mapping.
• Archeological mapping.
• Archaeological Sites.
• Archeological sites.
• Survey and Excavation.
• Artifacts and artifact classification.
• Stratigraphy (Archaeology)
• Marine Archaeology.

At what depth is an excavation permit required?

Confined space permit should be taken for excavations

more than 6 feet depth

(1.8Mt) which come under the purview of confined space.

What you should do before you begin an excavation?

• Identify the soil type(s) related to the excavation or trench you are going to dig. …
• Look for the legislative requirements that apply in your jurisdiction and the type of protective measures to be taken.
• Locate all buried services.