Excavation Safety
Excavator loading a dump truck with soil
Excavation Safety Quick Links
Environmental Health & Safety developed this program to assure the safety of employees who work in or around excavations as part of their job duties. It is also designed to protect employees, students, and the general public who work or travel in the vicinity of excavations. This program complies with the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, 29 CFR 1926, Subpart P.
This program applies to all departments involved in excavation work, or where personnel must work in or around excavations greater than 4 feet deep. An excavation, by definition, is any man-made cut, cavity, trench, or depression formed in the earth's surface by earth removal. "Grade" work not involving earth removal is not considered "excavation" work.
Departments must designate one or more "competent persons" to oversee related work and assure program compliance. Excavations must be inspected by the competent person prior to personnel entering to ensure all applicable hazard controls have been adequately addressed.
This program applies to excavations formed by any man-made cut, cavity, trench, or depression in an earth surface formed by earth removal. There are minimal requirements for excavations less than four feet deep, whereas, excavations greater than four feet deep require oversight by a competent person and routine evaluation of hazards and selected controls.
This program applies to excavation work on all Virginia Tech properties or being performed by Virginia Tech employees regardless of job site location.
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Excavation Safety Program
Responsibilities
Departmental, supervisor, and employee roles and responsibilities related to trenching and excavation activities.
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General Requirements
Contact Miss Utility
Miss Utility must be contacted (call 811 or 1-800-552-7001) at least 72 hours prior to digging, regardless of the anticipated depth or location to identify sewer, telephone, fuel, electric, water lines, fiber optics, etc.
It is highly recommended that photographs be taken of the markings made by Miss Utility prior to digging.
Digging shall not begin until proper clearance has been given as indicated on the ticket. The ticket number shall be entered on the Excavation Assessment Form. Excavators are required to keep the ticket number with them on the job site.
Appropriate authorities must be notified of gas or other hazardous substance leaks occurring during excavation activities.
For more information, review the Miss Utility program.
Best Practice
Class "C" Soil
If personnel will be entering the excavation, the designated competent person must determine the appropriate protective system to prevent a potential cave-in. In most cases, soils at the Virginia Tech campus have been previously disturbed and are considered to be class "C" soil. Best practice is to assume the worst class of soil (class "C") and implement the appropriate protective system, such as:
- Using a trench box for the size and depth of the excavation to be entered, or
- Sloping the sides of the excavation back to a 1 1/2 H to 1 V (i.e. 34 degrees) slope or bench.
This practice should cover the majority of excavations performed by Virginia Tech personnel. Where it does not, and class "C" soil protective system requirements cannot be met, the competent person should contact Environmental Health & Safety for guidance, if necessary. Examples of when this practice is not feasible include bell-bottom pier holes or excavations where manufactured trench boxes are not available.
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Instructions and guidance for performing the site evaluation and completing the Excavation Assessment Form.