Two Excavation Safety Tips for Construction Workers

Excavating a trench on a building site can be dangerous. Here are some safety tips for those who need to participate in the construction excavation process.

Put a barrier around the area of ground where the excavated soil will be dumped

The excavation of a trench usually results in several tonnes of soil being scooped up by the excavator and dumped onto a near patch of ground.

Before the person tasked with operating the excavator begins their work, they and their co-workers should place a barrier around the area of the site where this excavated soil from the trench will be thrown. This area should be relatively close to the spot where the trench is to be created, in order to minimise the length of the journey the excavator operator has to take whilst carrying this load on their equipment.

This barrier is important, as it will prevent labourers who are working near the trench area from standing on or close to the spot where the soil needs to be dumped.

This will ensure that the excavator operator does not fail to spot and then accidentally release a heavy load of soil onto one of these individuals. This is crucial, as having this type of heavy load fall on them could crush a person or cause them to suffocate.

Discourage the equipment operator from picking up excessively large loads

Sometimes, due to feeling pressured to meet a deadline, operators of excavators will attempt to pick up excessively large loads of soil in order to speed up the process of creating the trench. However, if other construction workers notice the equipment operator doing this, they should discourage them from continuing to take this approach, even if there is a deadline looming.

The reason for this is that two serious types of accidents can occur if an excavator picks up too much soil at once. Firstly, the excavator itself may end up falling forward, as a result of the excess weight in the bucket of the equipment. This could cause the operator to be thrown out of the excavator and may result in people who are walking near the front of the equipment being struck by the bucket as it hits the ground.

Secondly, if the excavator's bucket has too much soil in it, a lot of this soil may end up falling out of the bucket and onto the heads of construction workers on the ground whilst the excavator is turning around and driving to the area where the soil is to be dumped. This falling soil could injure these workers and or disorientate them and cause them to fall over and hurt themselves.