A safety overview on excavation and trenching at the worksite. Excavation Safeguarding Procedures The first step in protecting employees is removing/supporting any encumbrances that may be a hazard to the employee. Encumbrances can be anything that creates a hazardous surcharge load on the walls of the trench (equipment, vehicles, soil, any source of vibration, building materials, streams or water tables, etc.) Next, the employer must locate any underground utility installations. The employer should call the utility owner and ask for a representative to mark all areas where power lines or pipes maybe, if the owner does not respond within 24 hours you […]