alert trenches - cpwr · 2020. 7. 24. · hazard alert am i in danger? to receive copies of this...

HAZARD ALERT Am I in danger? To receive copies of this Hazard Alert and cards on other topics: call 301-578-8500 or email [email protected] Find out more about construction hazards. How can a trench kill me? TRENCHES ©2019, CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training. All rights reserved. CPWR is the research and training arm of NABTU. Production of this document was supported by cooperative agreement OH 009762 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the ofﬁcial views of NIOSH. Before you go in… 2 Work only in protected areas Check your escape Learn more about working safely in trenches: 3 If you think you are in danger: Contact your supervisor. Contact your union. Call OSHA 1-800-321-OSHA OSHA Quick Card: https://tinyurl.com/Trenches-Quick-Card NIOSH “Preventing Worker Deaths from Trench Cave-Ins”: https://tinyurl.com/NIOSH-Trench CPWR Trench Fact Sheet: https://www.tinyurl.com/CPWR-Trenches www.cpwr.com 1 And if the trench… has not been inspected by a competent person does not have a safe way to enter or exit has standing water or hazardous gases has equipment or materials close to the edge OSHA requires employers to appoint a “competent person” on trench jobs. This person must inspect the trench every day before work, after rain, and when conditions change. When there is a problem, the competent person has the authority to stop work and ﬁx the problem. The trench should be shielded, shored or sloped. Wear your hard hat. What is wrong with the jobsite below? The worker is outside of the trench box. There is no safe way to enter or exit. The worker is not wearing a hard hat. It only takes a second for a trench to collapse. Always be aware of your escape route. If you are in a trench 4 feet or deeper, you must be within 25 feet of a ladder, ramp or stairway. Then the answer is YES. An unprotected trench can collapse in less than a second. Never enter a trench unless it has been properly inspected. Find the “competent person” If the walls of the trench are not… sloped or benched shored with supports shielded with a trench box Trench walls may look stable, but DON’T TRUST them. You could die in minutes from a trench collapse… even if your head and arms are above the dirt. The weight of soil is so heavy that it will crush you. Dirt is heavy. Really heavy. One cubic yard of dirt is the weight of a mid-sized car. One Cubic Yard Photo for “Check your escape” used courtesy Advanced Fiber Technologies Inc. Don’t end your life in a trench. Work safe. Every day. 8484 Georgia Avenue Suite 1000 Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-578-8500 www.cpwr.com Unsafe Trench

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HAZARD ALERT

Am I in danger?

To receive copies of this Hazard Alert and cards on other topics:

call 301-578-8500 or email [email protected]

Find out more about construction hazards.

How can a trench kill me?

TRENCHES

©2019, CPWR-The Center for Construction Research and Training. All rights reserved. CPWR is the research and training arm of NABTU. Production of this document was supported by cooperative agreement OH 009762 from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIOSH.

Before you go in…

2 Work only in protected areas

Check your escape

Learn more about working safely in trenches:

If you think you are in danger:Contact your supervisor. Contact your union.

Call OSHA 1-800-321-OSHA

OSHA Quick Card: https://tinyurl.com/Trenches-Quick-Card

NIOSH “Preventing Worker Deaths from Trench Cave-Ins”: https://tinyurl.com/NIOSH-Trench

CPWR Trench Fact Sheet: https://www.tinyurl.com/CPWR-Trenches

www.cpwr.com

1And if the trench…

has not been inspected by a competent persondoes not have a safe way to enter or exit

has standing water or hazardous gaseshas equipment or materials close to the edge

OSHA requires employers to appoint a “competent person” on trench jobs. This person must inspect the trench every day before work, after rain, and when conditions change. When there is a problem, the competent person has the authority to stop work and fix the problem.

The trench should be shielded, shored or sloped. Wear your hard hat. What is wrong with the jobsite below? The worker is outside of the trench box. There is no safe way to enter or exit. The worker is not wearing a hard hat.

It only takes a second for a trench to collapse. Always be aware of your escape route. If you are in a trench 4 feet or deeper, you must be within 25 feet of a ladder, ramp or stairway.

Then the answer is YES.

An unprotected trench can collapse in less than a second.

Never enter a trench unless it has been properly inspected.

Find the “competent person”

If the walls of the trench are not…

sloped or benchedshored with supportsshielded with a trench box

Trench walls may look stable, but DON’T TRUST them.

You could die in minutes from a trench collapse… even if your head and arms are above the dirt.

The weight of soil is so heavy that it will crush you.

Dirt is heavy. Really heavy. One cubic yard of dirt is the weight of a mid-sized car.

One Cubic Yard

Photo for “Check your escape” used courtesy Advanced Fiber Technologies Inc.