Trench Warfare — Time to Get Serious about Planning

May 20th, 2004 by Hal

If you've been following the Safety Everyday sideblog you've noticed numerous trench accidents and deaths. OSHA usually finds contractors in some way responsible. It ranges from willful disregard of regulations to poor training. I have a different take. The planning system performance plays a big role.

People are starting work before the tasks are ready to be started AND completed. Trenches are dug when excavators are available. Or, the work has gotten behind, so in an attempt to catch up people begin work without planning for it. Trenches stay open while the rest of the work is prepared. Everyday the trench is open the walls degrade. A trench is a hazard. Working in a trench is risky. Spreading that work over a series of days is significantly more dangerous than getting in and out on one day. That is compounded by similar poorly prepared tasks that are started around the trench. At some point there is a network effect. The confluence of small issues "tips" the site to a dangerous situation.

Construction work is hazardous. We expose our workers unnecessarily to further hazard due to the failure of work not being prepared and other work not finishing reliably as promised. It's time to get serious about only asking people to do work that is in a condition to start and complete uninterrupted.

Read Safety Everyday's construction safety in the news sideblog.

Excavation Safety

Construction Project Silence Puts Safety at Risk

Projects at Home

OSHA Betrays Dead Man’s Family

Phase Planning Today

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