September 7, 2024

3 Ways to Take Trench Safety Precautions

Are you a worker working on a trench, and do you have a good comprehension of the hazards involved as well as necessary safety measures? This article aims at providing a detailed description of the safety tips that can save a life during trenching in a construction project. There is an array of trenching equipment that a buyer can get at Corporate website van Adrighem. The safety tips are described below:

1.Ensure the Laborers wear Appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Some of the PPEs used in trenching are fall protection, respirators, hardhats, gloves, high visibility safety vests, safety glasses among other devices. Also, the full-body safety harnesses must have shock-absorbing lanyard connected to the laborer’s back as well as an anchor to a weight-bearing support.

2.Installation of Protective Systems

The construction regulation bodies demands that the premise under construction should have appropriate safety systems in place. There are various safety systems that can be a solution starting with sloping which entails cutting the walls of the trenches at an inclined angle away from the excavation. The sloping is a system that can be used on its own or in combination with another protective system called benching. The other one is shoring that revolves around either the installation of aluminum hydraulic or other supports to curtail cave-ins. The shoring systems assist in keeping Earth in place as well as provide extra layer od protection. The next protective system is shielding that safeguards the workmen with the implementation of supports like the trench boxes to prevent cave ins.

3.Application of Alternative Trenching Procedures

Trenching is a dangerous element of construction but very necessary, hence the builder does not want to do more than needed. Using these substitute methods of excavation provides better safety beginning with utility tunneling which is similar to pipe jacking only that the linear plates are required as well as laborers enter the borehole. The hand or the boring machine can be used to execute this technique. The utility tunnels are usually implemented in the colder climates as well as huge commercial and industrial premises to enable the non-disruption of the vehicular traffic or above-ground pedestrian. The is also the pipe ramming also known as pipe jacking, applied broadly in the horizontal projects. The pipe jacking works through hammering a pipe into the ground using a percussive instrument. The pipe ramming is suitable for larger pipes along with surfaces that mat have problem settling incase other trenchless methods are used. The last substitute method is the directional boring that uses a boring machine to dig into the ground at an angle without disturbing the surface a lot. The techniques help in in removing all risks associated with trenching.

In conclusion, trenching which comprises of excavation work where the depth of the trench is bigger than its width and the width does not exceed 15 feet. The workmen in the premises that are doing trenching need to be aware of the safety precautions to saves lives and enhance job productivity. Some of the precaution tips to take are installation of protective systems, appropriate PPEs along with using alternative trenching methods.

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