Any time you begin an excavation, you must designate a competent person, according to OSHA standards, and we’re going to get to that in a moment. First, we have to clear up what constitutes an “excavation.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defines excavation for us at 29 CFR 1926.650: “any man-made cut, cavity, trench, or depression in an earth surface, formed by earth removal.” It is about here that some of you may become a bit agitated and protest, “but I was always told that it had to be at least four feet deep…” you’re getting ahead of us.
Next, what exactly is a trench? OSHA says it, “means a narrow excavation (in relation to its length) made below the surface of the ground. In general, the depth is greater than the width, but the width of a trench (measured at the bottom) is not greater than 15 feet.” So, presumably, if an excavation is more than 15 feet wide, it’s just…a hole.
Now, again, some of you are chomping at the bit to clarify a bunch of stuff about four feet and five feet and shields and boxes and so on. Eeeaaaassssyyyy there. See? This is what we do. We get all wrapped up in complicated regulations and a lot of “I was also told that…” and forget that some fundamental understanding of injury risk can answer a lot of questions.
Well, heck, because Delaware is a so-called “non-plan state,” workers at state and local agencies here are not covered by OSHA, and that can get a bit confusing (it is at this point, if you are a reader from Maryland, North Carolina, Vermont, or one of the other states or territories with OSHA-approved State Plans, you’ll want to cover your ears because in your state, OSHA most definitely applies to your local agency personnel, in accordance with your State Plans; but not in Delaware). But make no mistake, private sector personnel in Delaware are protected by OSHA and are subject to their regulations; when they are working on your projects, they are subject to OSHA regulation, even if you aren’t. And, thankfully, most Delaware local agencies recognize that OSHA standards and regulations are best practice and seek to follow them anyway. So why don’t we, for the sake of argument, pretend a bit and let’s just proceed as if OSHA was a more consistent standard in Delaware and we all had to comply with the same regulations. Okay? It’s not true, but, you know, close enough.
So, back to these holes in the ground. As local agencies, you and/or your contractors dig holes for all kinds of things, and not always with much advance notice. Think of water main breaks, sewer line back-ups, storm drain repairs, and so on. Given the broad definition of “excavation,” just about any of your excavation work is going to trigger the so called competent person requirements.
OSHA requires that (29 CFR 1926.651(k)(1)), “daily inspections of excavations, the adjacent areas, and protective systems shall be made by a competent person for evidence of a situation that could result in possible cave-ins, indications of failure of protective systems, hazardous atmospheres, or other hazardous conditions. An inspection shall be conducted by the competent person prior to the start of work and as needed throughout the shift. Inspections shall also be made after every rainstorm or other hazard increasing occurrence.” Notice that OSHA is not specific to trenches, there is no mention of a minimum depth, and so on – this applies to all excavations. So, let’s not get into a whole thing about four feet, five feet, whatever. If you’re digging an excavation (i.e., a hole in the ground), you need a competent person to perform daily inspections.
The competent person is, “one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings, or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.” Don’t gloss over that second part because, returning to 1926.651(k), we learn that, “where the competent person finds evidence of a situation that could result in a possible cave-in, indications of failure of protective systems, hazardous atmospheres, or other hazardous conditions, exposed employees shall be removed from the hazardous area until the necessary precautions have been taken to ensure their safety.”
The competent person must have the knowledge and experience to identify and evaluate these risks and then the authority to act on those evaluations. In other words, if the competent person is not able to intervene and remove the personnel from potential exposure risk, what is the point? Finally, it goes without saying, but the competent person should be designated as such. If the OSHA inspector arrives at the site and asks to talk to the competent person, that should be readily answerable. If we don’t know who that is…is someone actually playing that role? Is someone actually identifying hazards? As an interesting exercise the next time you are excavating, consider asking the crew about two hours in, “who is the competent person.”
As with many things OSHA, there is some confusion about the competent person. Many of us associate the term uniquely with trench safety, but in fact, the competent person is a requirement in several areas of OSHA regulations. There needn’t be just one competent person or a “senior competent person;” there can be one for trench safety and another for fall protection. The person with the appropriate knowledge and experience should be designated by the employer to be the competent person for that activity (and then given authority to act on identified risks).
Finally, it is sometimes said that the competent person must be trained for the role. Absolutely, training that prepares the person for that role is a fine idea. But OSHA clarified in a posted response that the,” standard does not specify particular training requirements for competent persons. Instead, it defines a competent person in terms of capability. Thus, successful completion of a course does not, alone, necessarily establish an individual as a “competent person” for a number of reasons.”
They go on to explain that, “by its terms, the definition of a “competent person” compels the employer to select an employee based upon his or her capability to identify hazards. The course may not be sufficiently comprehensive with respect to the information needed to meet the knowledge requirement in the definition. Remember that the type and extent of the knowledge will vary with what is necessary to successfully perform the task required of the competent person in the standard. Also, the course may not adequately test the employee’s understanding of the course material. Finally, the definition of a competent person requires the individual to have the authority to take prompt corrective action. No course can provide that authority, since it can only be provided by the employer.”
In summary, you can see that OSHA takes the role of competent person quite seriously, but the burden is on the employer to identify that person based on capability with the hazards at play as well as equipping him/her with authority to act upon that evaluation. If you are a private sector contractor in Delaware, identifying the competent person for each project should be part of your process and if you are a public agency (in Delaware) it’s still a good practice, even if OSHA is not the boss of you.
Next month, we will take a closer look at excavation safety and OSHA’s regulations pertaining to them and yes, we will get into all that four feet, five feet, two feet, shields, shoring, and so on. So, if you are a trenching geek, stay tuned for next month!
You must be logged in to post a comment.