Excavations - The OSHA Competent Person Course

Emergency Action Plan

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Excavation Rescue
The Rules About Rescuing

• Confined Spaces
• Fall Protection
• Excavations Rescues (non-
cave-in and cave in)
The employer must • Construction Over Water
designate, train and • Hazardous Chemicals
equip Competent Persons
to perform rescues in: • Others
The Rules About Rescuing

Do not rescue unless

your employer has
designated you, trained
you, and equipped you
for rescue operations -
1903.14(f)(1)(i)
The Rules About Rescuing

Employers must train employees not

designated in the following:

Not to attempt rescue.

The hazards of attempting rescue without

adequate training or equipment.
• 1903.14(f)(3)(iii)
Non-Cave In

If someone is
seriously injured, Not all
take the following accidents
steps: in a
• Protect the area from hazards. trench are
•
•
Prevent any further injury.
Give 1st aid. a result of
•
•
Call 911.
Have someone direct the EMT’s to
a cave-in.
the accident scene.
Cave-in Buried Workers

Warning: many would

be rescuers are killed
because they attempt
rescue before the
excavation has finished
collapsing.

50% of all fatalities are

would be rescuers.
Buried Workers

Call
911.
Buried Workers

• Evacuate the trench.

• Stop all machinery, and
vehicles with-in 100 feet of
the site. This can cause a
second cave-in and collapse
Things you can any air pockets that a victim
do to help: may have.
Buried Workers

• Do not remove
any equipment
or tools from
the trench that
is submerged in
soil (can cause
a second cave-
in).
Buried Workers

Keep spectators away – their

weight near the excavations edge
could cause another collapse.

Keep all water pumps operating.

Buried Workers

Never dig
out a
victim with
heavy
equipment.
Buried Workers

• If an employee is partly
buried – death may occur
upon rescue.
• Crush syndrome
• Reperfusion injury caused by blood
returning to tissue that have not
had blood flow due to pressure.
• Release of toxic chemicals
Buried Workers

• Rapid-flow intravenous drugs

• Several medicines
• Heart EKG monitoring
Treatment • O2 administration
for crush • Treatment is very complicated
syndrome and you probability don’t have
the equipment or training in
order to treat crush
syndrome.
Buried Workers

•Generally –
buried workers
are body
recoveries – not
rescues.
Broken Gas Lines
Broken Gas Lines

• Flame is not the

only source that will
ignite leaking gas.
Static build-up from
WARNING the leak itself could
ignite the gas.
Unknown Contacts
Electrical

• Contacting underground electric lines.

• Notification required – State’s High Voltage Safety
Act.
Electrical

• Electrocution can result from

contacting or approaching
under-ground or overhead power
cables.
• Electrocution could result from
touching or being near a
machine that is in contact or
near an electrical source.
Electrical

• Electrocution could result from touching or being

near a machine that is in contact or near an
electrical source.
1926.1408(g)(1)(i)(A)Information regarding the danger of electrocution from the
operator simultaneously touching the equipment and the ground.
1926.1408(g)(1)(i)(C) The safest means of evacuating from equipment that may be
energized.
1926.1408(g
)(1)(i)(F)
Safe
clearance
distance
from power
lines.
1926.1408(g)(1)(i)(F)
Safe clearance distance from power lines.
Rescue Note
 Electrical Lines
• In some circumstances, when
a crane comes into contact
with a power line and sufficient
ground fault is created, the
electric utility's distribution
system is automatically
deenergized by a reclosure
switch to avoid the blowing of
intervening fuses. Many times
people assume that the power
line is deenergized when the
sparks stop at the point of
contact. But this can be very
misleading, because the circuit
is automatically reenergized
several seconds later, so there
usually is not enough time
given by this type of
deenergization to keep
someone from being shocked
again.
 1926.1410(d)(12)
Insulating line hose or cover-up must be installed by the utility owner/operator except where such devices are
unavailable for the line voltages involved.

If you must be closer

than allowed:
ALWAYS ask the
electric company to
install insulation while
you are working near
them.
1926.1408(g)(1)(ii)

Power lines are presumed to be

energized unless the utility
owner/operator confirms that the
power line has been and continues to
be deenergized and visibly grounded
at the worksite.
Electrical Notification Requirement

If you work near power lines

(which the equipment can
possibility contact)
notification must be provided
to the owner of the power
lines. State High Voltage Law
and ANSI B 30.5 5-3.4.5
Any Questions?
Take the Test and Review the Answers
ELECTRICAL SHOCK EMERGENCIES - Procedures
In Case of Shock
• DO NOT touch the victim or the
conductor.
Emergency Procedures

• Electric shock
may result in
falls.
•May have a
broken neck
or spinal
injury.
Emergency Procedures

• Hold the person's head

and neck in the position
in which they were
found.
• DO NOT attempt to
reposition the neck.
• Do not allow the neck to
bend or twist.
Emergency Procedures

• Shut Off The

Current
•At The
Control Box
•Unplug it
Emergency Procedures

• If Shutoff
is not
Immediat
ely
Available,
• Use Non-
Conducti
ng
Material
To Free
Emergency Procedures

•Call
For
Help
Emergency Procedures

•If Necessary
•And You
Know How,
•Begin CPR.
Emergency Procedures- USE AED

• Electric shock can result in ventricular fibrillation.

• This is a rapid and unsynchronized heart rhythm
• The heart must be “defibrillated” quickly, because a
victim’s chance of surviving drops by 7 to 10
percent for every minute a normal heartbeat isn’t
restored.
Emergency Procedures

WARNING:

Any electrical
shock requires
medical
treatment.
The EKG