Revised standards covering excavation work, including trenching, at more than 1 million job sites, have been released by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, according to Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole.
The primary purpose of the revisions is to clarify the requirements so that firms can tailor their protective measures to their particular situations while providing adequate employee protection, Dole said."While construction is regarded as one of the most hazardous of general industrial sector occupations, the fatality rate for trenching is twice the level for construction as a whole," she said. "The revised standard will give much needed added protection to excavation workers and save an estimated 75 lives and prevent about 3,000 injuries annually."
The revised standard allows construction projects more flexibility since it provides four options for sloping and four options for shoring. The standard uses performance criteria where possible, rather than specification requirements and provides a consistent method of soil classification, Dole said.