Safe Work in Trenches: Hazard Alert

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Center to Protect Workers' Rights
• Description:
  Most trenches are dug to lay pipe or place manholes, conduit runs, or footings. It is easy to try to work fast in a trench and get out without taking the correct safety steps. Don't. Each year, more than 30 construction workers are killed in trenches. The Hazards: A trench is a confined space with many special problems. Most deaths in trenches are from cave-ins. Other risks are falls, electrocution, being struck by falling objects (or a backhoe), and bad air. Bad air can hurt your breathing, help cause a fire, or poison you. Many workers die trying to rescue other workers in trenches. Protect Yourself: OSHA says your employer (the contractor) must train you about the hazards and how to protect yourself. If a trench will be dug, the contractor must name a competent person. (OSHA says a competent person knows the OSHA excavation standard,* is trained in soil analysis and protective systems, can identify hazards, and has authority to stop work right away.) [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Confined Spaces Construction Industry Mortality Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident-potential Accident-prevention Confined-spaces Construction Construction-industry Construction-workers Control-equipment Excavation-equipment Ground-control Ground-stability Hazards Injuries Injury-prevention Mortality-data Mortality-rates Outdoors Protective-equipment Protective-measures Public-utilities Regulations Safety-education Safety-measures Safety-practices Soil-analysis Standards Training Traumatic-injuries Work-environment Work-practices Worker-health

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• Series:
  CPWR - Center for Construction Research and Training Publications
• Publisher:
  The Center to Protect Workers' Rights
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  2 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20039614
• Citation:
  Silver Spring, MD: The Center to Protect Workers' Rights, 2005 Jun; :1-2
• Contact Point Address:
  Building and Construction Trades Dept., AFL-CIO: CPWR, Suite 1000, 8484 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  The Center to Protect Workers' Rights
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  Safe work in trenches: hazard alert
• End Date:
  20050630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5757a26beaa6ff52beeb567fe170a4bbaef5a02ff33ea9f92a72f7a9ee380b09f0732e8fb066bfeac70afe74f0c249eb787ab4980ccb54c99748b2ec40178407
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/213095/cdc_213095_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 33.21 KB ]