Page 19 - West Virgina 811 Magazine 2019 Issue 1

lrenching and excavation safety
Part one: The role and responsibilities of the “Competent Person”
Eriil‘ur's Nata. Tlvzs Z5 Hm firs: of/um articles In fllill 5CIl(5 that dzsrnsses spurlfic EV D‘V"‘ V D“
sleps Hm eollmuelllls and lmlmes elm mkc In help m514I(' Hm 5/1/EH4 llfrlleu
p('Vs0l1rIL'l. Dhzliuualy, was as 1111 aaemeln cflllt Subjcrf ll /5 mlnosslhle lo pwpllly . Hm pm a,,.},,_,,..,, lo lake pmmp.
wvcr Hm !L7pI( all past /our lellmwly shall mllrlcs. callhaelola and lmtllles lrlvlvll/L'rl e,_,,,m.\sa mew“. lo d,,,..mm
in lllldnglolmd anlnk will need fldrl/Ilulml mulllllg la ZIISIAVE aoolzael snfcly. the,“
OSHA goes on lo sllpulale lhal lhe
connpelenl reason on a trcndung and
d excavation sue anusl have speelha
training In — and be knowledgeable
of— soals analysls, Lhc use of ploleeuve
sys-leans-, and llle aeauaaenleals of llle
V ' OSHA Standard (29 HR 1926, Elubpan 1’)
OSHA as veay spenne about lhe
aesponsabalalles of lhe coanpelenl Fermi).
_l. or " “ Those aesponslbllalaes anelude:
1 Aolhoally lo ~Iop woak
z lnspeellons ol laenehes oa c><cnvatlon~,
3 Tesllng for hazaadoos aunospheaes
when suell alanosplleaes ensl oa eoold be
aeasonably eapeeled lo exist,
4 lnspeellon of malcxiah oa eqolpanenl ll
damaged, to deleaanlne ll usable,
5 Mumtunng of walea mmuvnl
equlpanenl and opeaallons, and
6 Visual and manual tests‘ of the soil.
lnspeellons aae paaueolaaly unpoalanl.
The coanpelenl Pcxwn needs lo anspeel
dally fut andaealaons of possahle eaye-ans,
izulum of paoleeuve sys-lenas, hazaadous
aunosplleaes, and olhea haaaadoos
eondallons. The anspeenons need lo be
mnductnd pnoa lo lhe slaal of woak,
and also as needed Lhmughout llle shift,
allea aaansloams, and allea olhea polenual
oxkmg In laenehes and cxcnvatloru as polenllally one of lhe mosl l-mml-|ncm~"-lz Mm»
hazaadous lypes ol woak ln lhe eonslauelaon and utility andoslay. A numb” 0, mac aN_,mm,m and
Aeaoss lhe U s, as many as 400 woakeas aae kllled and seueaal P,,m.c m,,,..,1m... um, compclm.
lhoosand aae lnyumd eaeh yeaa. Nol suapnsang, anosl of lhese woakeas FEM“ mimng WM‘ HM“ mung

have rccnlvcd no trenching and Excavation s-alely lmmlng. whal l~ s-uapnsang ls lhal mu, mg,“ h,,_,,,. OSHA and mm, “my

anosl of lhe llenehes aae mlauvcly shallow (five lo 15 leel deep! P,o;C,,.,,,,.a1, am, mmmgc ,x.,,od,C

Many eons-laoeuon people don't appaenale lhe unormolh wnlghl ol soal. one cubic "mfrt‘~hvI” tramwa-

foul of soal weighs helween 90 and 140 pounds. Theaeloae, a euble yald of s-oal can T1“, ,5 an ,,,,P,,,m,,, mpm when (mm.

Wmgh alanosl -1,000 pounds. As a aesoll, lheae's- usually a dealh oa ueay senous uuuay Om", mu mu“ ,5 “many one 0, mm

W59“ “ "°"‘l' “WM” '-“Cum dealhs oa veav sealous lnyunes. To do

ln an allempl lo aedoee lhe numbea of dealhs and senous uuunes lhal oeeua lrmthlnlz and nxcavatmn wark saicly,

each year In laenehes and c><CnvatlDn~, lhe redeaal oeeupalaonal salely sa Heallh IDHIYWD“ -“'4 “U'mC~ "Nd a PUW" on

Adnunlslaalaon (OSHA) aeqoues lhal a "coanpeleul PcIwn" be onsue whenever “I9 win: Ma Ll-C knvwkdgc of how N: do

woakeas aae exposed In an eaeavalaon. OSHA dennes a conlpeleul reason as one “'0 Work safely, who rcgul-W1)’ m~'l>ccts

Wm lhe laenahes oa eaaayanons, and who has
lhe aolhoauy lo lake inunedlale aeuon lo

- ls eapahle of identifying exaslang ol paedlelahle hazaads ln lhe sualoundlngs oa m,..,,c the .amy of all wD,pC,._ B

working eondalaons lhal aae onsanuaay, hazaadous-, ol dangeaoos lo employees,
and who
2019 Issue 1 wan weal. 911 .17