Excavation Systems Planning, Design, And Safety 0071498699 Ch01

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Introduction toExcavation Safetyand Shoring Design

1.1 Introduction

The focus of this book is excavation safety and excavation work pro-ductivity. There was the time when these two concepts were seen as being at odds with each other; however, over the past 60 years afundamental concept has changed that view. The concept is that exca-vation safety is just another aspect of what it takes to produce the endproduct. Like planning, environmental protection, digging, shoring, bedding, pipe laying, and backfill, excavation safety must beproducedto deliver a pipeline project. The project cannot be completed withoutit. The more effectively each ingredient is produced, the more pro-ductive and profitable the project is. Failure to adequately provideany of these elements amounts to project failure; however, today byfar the most costly and damaging failure is seen as failure to produceeffective safety. The industry, worldwide, has come to accept that thevalue of human life is greater than the value of what is constructedinside the excavation and that in all cases excavation work can andmust be produced without injury to workers.It is hard to talk about excavation safety without talking aboutthe Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) andshoring. Both of these terms are synonymous with excavation safety.Due to its dual nature, the word

shoring

is also closely associatedwith excavation production. Excavations cannot be planned andproduced without some consideration of soil stability. In an unstableexcavation the production work cannot be performed, and workersin that environment are not safe. Shoring stabilizes and protectssimultaneously. In the first half of the 19th century, increasedexcavation productivity in the form of moving less dirt and avoiding

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Chapter One

damage to surrounding facilities, not digging faster (that is therealm of excavation equipment technology), drove the developmentof shoring technology. In the latter half of the 19th century, anincreased concern for worker safety became a second driving forcefor shoring technology development. They both complement eachother; however, faster and more efficient ground stabilization ismost likely still the major mover of shoring technology development.Aside from stable ground issues there are other aspects of workersafety associated with excavation work, the major one being existingsubsurface facilities. In this area protection of the lives of workersand the surrounding public is foremost with cost of damage tofacilities being secondary. OSHA, as it relates to workers, and theCommon Ground Alliance (CGA), as it relates to everyone involved,over the last half of the century have elevated this important issueto the forefront of excavation safety.Awareness, knowledge, and technology are the tools used toproduce safety and productivity in excavation work. The intent ofthis book is to help the reader gain access to those tools.

1.2 Excavation Work Categories

In the context of excavation work, safety and shoring are only oneaspect. Excavation work in its entirety is anything involving mechan-ical movement of the earth’s surface. Categorically it can be brokendown by sequence of work, as in Fig. 1.1. There are four major catego-ries;

surface work

—cut and fill, then construct production work;

belowsurface work

—cut, construct production work, then cover it up;

miningand tunneling

—cut then restore; and

agricultural

—cut, plow, andplant. A single project usually can originate in any one of these cate-gories and involve all of them. There are unique safety issues associ-ated with each category. This book focuses on excavation and safetyissues surrounding

below surface work

.Below surface work is the category of excavation work that OSHASubpart P was written for. In 1926.650(a) OSHA states the scope andapplication. This subpart applies to all open excavations made in theearth’s surface. Excavations are defined to include trenches.OSHA 1926.651 applies to general excavation safety; however, 9 of12 citations apply to work that involves excavated holes or trenches.Only three citations—Exposure to Vehicular Traffic, Exposure to FallingLoads, and Warning Systems for Mobile Equipment—apply to generalexcavation work. OSHA 1926.652 and all the remaining appendicesapply to worker protection from cave-in. The entire 29 CFR Part 1926Safety and Health Regulations for Construction apply to all con-struction operations; however, OSHA Subpart P is specific to whenexcavation work causes there to be a hole in the ground.In terms of the process, excavation work and productivity fallinto the categories of machinery productivity, sequencing of materials