According to a FracTracker Alliance analysis, the United States has an average of 1.7 pipeline mishaps daily, resulting in the evacuation of 9 persons. An explosion occurs every 11 days, and there is a pipeline fire every four days. An injury occurs every five days, while death occurs every 26 days. Regrettably, these figures do not consider the many dangers of building sites, such as landslides, falling debris, electrocution, and floods. Here is a need to use best practices for construction and excavation to ensure safety. Luckily this article will give details about this pressing issue to help you complete the job perfectly.
Contents
Best Practises Grouped Into Four Categories
Workplace safety and health officials say excavation is a hazardous part of building a new structure (OSHA). You must utilize safe excavation procedures at your work site since excavation operations can potentially put workers’ lives at risk. Continue reading, and you’ll get helpful insight into the necessary safety measures for excavation companies‘ tasks following industry norms and laws.
1. Don’t dig until you call 8-1-1
The number 811 has been designated by the federal government as a call-before-you-dig facility. Before beginning any trenching job, be sure to call 811 to confirm the rules and standards in your state. Here’s a breakdown of how things work:
- Dial 8-1-1 on a mobile phone or submit an electronic application at call811.com at least two to three days before the work begins. You may learn more about the notice period in effect in your state by visiting this page.
- Your local 811 facilities will then get in touch with any impacted utility companies. Pause for these providers to designate their underground lines with paint or flags for the requisite number of days.
- The 811 centers should be contacted if there is apparent evidence of a utility on your work site (e.g., an above-ground marking, a maintenance hole cover, or a utility box). Still, no utility mark has been created yet.
If you live outside the USA, you can check with the relevant state agencies to get the digging permit.
2. Potholing should be performed before digging
As per the Mutual Understanding Alliance’s Damage Information Reporting Tool, 36 percent of yearly underground utility damages (with a known cause) are caused by excavation concerns (DIRT). There are several excavation-related problems, but potholes are the most common. According to the DIRT study, there has been an all-time high estimate of overall damages in the United States, providing eight specific suggestions for the sector. Potholing as an excellent practice is one of their essential suggestions. A series of tiny test holes, generally 6 to 12 inches deep, are dug to locate underground pipes, lines, and other impediments, which may then remove. It is common for potholing projects to rely on vacuum excavation to verify the existence of subsurface items along the bore channel.
3. If possible, use vacuum excavation methods
Even though poorly planned and handled projects continue to result in injuries, fatalities, collapses, fires, and explosions at work sites throughout the nation, excavation teams have been able to implement far safer ways during the previous few decades. Vacuum excavation is among the most popular and well-known of them. Robust suction machinery is used to excavate a precisely deep trench in the Earth to erect steel buildings in Alberta or elsewhere you live, exposing under infrastructure and removing residues. It is possible to dig securely, swiftly, and with the lowest number of interruptions to subsurface infrastructure when using a high-pressure water source or an air lance.
4. The OSHA Excavation Standards should be reviewed and applied.
OSHA excavation rules govern excavation and trenching activities. In 29 CFR Part 1926, Subpart P. Including trenches, all open holes on the Earth’s surface are subject to these regulations. Worker safety is dependent on observing these essential factors and safe work practices.
The following are some of the essential points:
- Before you start excavating through a hydrovac truck, note the locations of any underground utilities.
- Maintain a distance of two feet or more from the trench sides while dumping excavated dirt or other items.
- Keep heavy machinery away from the margins of the trench.
- Recognize any apparatus or operations that might compromise the stability of a trench.
- Perform atmospheric risk tests when employees are more than four feet below the surface.
Conclusion
For effective excavation procedures, it is preferable to rely on an experienced construction company for hydrovacing in Edmonton or elsewhere that cares about the well-being of its workers. Implement OSHA 30 and Operator Qualification training for field people, and they should be able to provide proof that they have met the most current safety regulations and standards.
