Proper excavation and trenching training is important in preventing serious incidents at construction sites.
Acute Safety & Safety Services offers an excavation and trenching training course that provides you with a comprehensive overview. Click here to see our course calendar!
Excavation and trenching training includes, among other things, legislative and practical considerations. Now let’s dig in to learn more!
Introduction to Excavation and Trenching Training
Why is Excavation and Trenching Training Important?
Hazards involving excavations and trenching can lead to serious incidents involving workers at construction sites.
The Construction Projects Regulation defines excavation and trenching as: “An excavation is a hole left in the ground as the result of removing material” and “a trench is an excavation in which the depth exceeds the width.”
Make no mistake about it – this is dangerous work. Some hazards include slips, trips, falls and even cave-ins
This type of excavation and trenching work is typically done on construction sites.
“Many cave-ins occur on small jobs of short duration, such as water, gas, electrical and sewer line connections,” according to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
According to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, other potential hazards include:
- “excavated material or other objects falling on workers,
- exposure to underground services or overhead electrical cables,
- unstable adjacent structures,
- mishandled or poorly placed materials,
- hazardous atmosphere (noxious gases/lack of oxygen),
- toxic, irritating or flammable and explosive gases,
- and incidents involving vehicles and other mobile equipment.”
Proper excavation and trenching training will help reduce risks
Excavation and Trenching Training – What Does the Law Say?
As an employer, supervisor or workers at these sites, you must follow the requirements set out in the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) and Regulations for Construction Projects.
Workplace safety can never be taken for granted.
There are certain obligations you must meet under the Ontario Regulations for Construction Projects, as well as the following reasonable precautions according to OHSA section 25(2)(h):
- “determine how workers will enter and exit excavation
- know in advance what excavation equipment and tools are needed
- consider possibility of environmental hazards (rain) in excavation
- be aware of nearby vehicles and mobile equipment causing soil to vibrate
- provide training to workers.”
For more on the excavation and trenching training obligations under the OHSA, click here!
What You Will Learn – ACUTE’s Excavation and Trenching Training
ACUTE’s excavation and trenching training will provide you with a comprehensive overview of legislative and practical considerations for safe and legislatively compliant excavation and trenching.
Training program topics include:
- Excavation Hazards
- Plan before you dig – Obligations under Construction Regulations
- Reasonable precautions under the Occupational Health and Safety Act
- Duties of workplace parties
- Notifications
- Determining soil types
- Soil strength
- Wall stability
- Marking and location utilities
- Adjacent structures
- Working safely with and around heavy equipment
- Public safety and work area protection
- Prefabricated protective support systems
- Sloping and Shoring
- Trench boxes
- Emergency procedures
Over the course of the 4-hour session, you will learn through classroom interaction with experienced instructors, and detailed handouts, videos and quizzes.
We can conduct the excavation and trenching training at your facility or at our own training facility, whichever will suit your needs best. There are some great benefits to both approaches.
By completing your training on-site, we can save your staff travel time. By completing your training at our facility, you can benefit from our spacious training room, our state-of-the-art, hands-on training space, and full use of our break room.
Excavation and trenching training can be conducted on-site!
Trust ACUTE for Excavation and Trenching Training!
ACUTE offers a range of health and safety training programs, and with over 100 years of combined experience, our staff have much more than just theoretical teaching to offer. We have first-hand experience in a variety of workplace situations, and that allows us to offer the same high-quality training classes across a broad range of subjects, including fall arrest training.
ACUTE offers the solution to all of your health and safety training needs by emphasizing client participation and establishing rapport in all of our classes. We want to build a relationship with our clients.
ACUTE’s president and co-owner Ron Campbell says, “At the end of the day we want to make sure our clients go home safe and sound to their families. That’s what we do”.
“The best place to get trained, period. The lessons include plenty of hands on components which definitely help retain the knowledge taught within the classrooms. Above all, the instructors know their stuff, they are all extremely knowledgeable and draw upon their own experiences to help engage the class. If I could give them higher than 5 stars, I would, and I would most definitely do my training refresher courses here again.” – Ali A.
Read more customer reviews here
Located in Waterloo, ACUTE services customers from cities such as Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton, Milton, Kitchener, London, Guelph, and others across Ontario.
For all OABA members, please contact the ACUTE office prior to registration.
