Excavation & Trenching
Employee Protection
- Each employee in an excavation shall be protected from cave-ins by an adequate protective system designed in accordance with this standard except when:
- Excavations are made entirely in stable rock.
- Excavations are less than 5 feet (1.52 m) in depth and examination of the ground by a competent person provides no indication of a potential cave-in.
- Protective systems shall have the capacity to resist without failure all loads that are intended or could reasonably be expected to be applied or transmitted to the system.
