Excavation and Trenching Safety for Competent Persons

A cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a small car, and a trench wall can fail without warning. This course teaches the OSHA excavation rules in plain language and, more importantly, the judgment behind them: how to find utilities, classify soil, choose and install a protective system, inspect a trench every day and respond when something goes wrong. It is built for the people who run trenching jobs and for the workers who go into them.

What you’ll learn

• Explain why trench collapses are so deadly and what the OSHA excavation standard requires
• Plan an excavation, locate utilities and work safely around them
• Classify soil as stable rock, Type A, Type B or Type C using visual and manual tests
• Choose between sloping, benching, shoring and trench shields, and know the limits of each
• Provide safe access, keep spoil and equipment back, and control water and hazardous atmospheres
• Carry out and document daily and event-driven trench inspections
• Recognize warning signs of a failing trench and respond correctly
• Understand rescue limits, and why you never enter an unprotected trench to help

Who it’s for

Excavation and utility crews, foremen, superintendents, inspectors and safety staff, and workers who will be designated as competent persons by their employers. No experience is needed, though field experience makes the lessons easier to apply.

Course outline

Module 1: Why Trenches Kill and What the Rules Require 3 lessons · quiz

The physics of a collapse, the OSHA excavation standard in plain language, and how to plan before the first shovel goes in.

• Why trench collapses are so deadly 10 min Free preview
• The OSHA excavation standard in plain language 13 min
• Planning an excavation before you dig 12 min

Module 2: Utilities Underground and Overhead 3 lessons · quiz

Finding, marking and protecting the lines you can't see, and the ones you can.

• Call 811 and the locate process 12 min
• Potholing, hand digging and vacuum excavation 11 min
• Utility strikes and overhead lines 12 min

Module 3: Soil Classification 3 lessons · quiz

You can't choose a protective system until you know the soil. Learn the four categories and the tests that sort them.

• The four soil categories 13 min
• Visual and manual soil tests 13 min
• Conditions that make soil worse 11 min

Module 4: Sloping and Benching 3 lessons · quiz

The simplest protective system needs no equipment, just room and the right angle.

• How sloping works 12 min
• Benching 11 min
• Sloping in practice 11 min

Module 5: Shoring and Trench Shields 3 lessons · quiz

When there is not room to slope, support the walls or put a protective box around the workers.

• Timber and hydraulic shoring 13 min
• Trench boxes and shields 12 min
• Choosing a system and installing it right 12 min

Module 6: Access, Edges, Air and Water 3 lessons · quiz

Everything else that decides whether a trench is safe to work in: how people get in and out, what sits at the edge, what is in the air and what is in the bottom.

• Access, egress, spoil and surcharge 12 min
• Hazardous atmospheres and confined space 12 min
• Water, adjacent structures and backfilling 11 min

Module 7: Inspections and the Competent Person 3 lessons · quiz

The competent person is the safety system for every trench. Here is what the job really involves.

• What a competent person does 12 min
• Daily inspections and warning signs 13 min
• Equipment, traffic and working safely around trenches 11 min

Module 8: Emergencies and Building a Trench-Safe Program 3 lessons · quiz

What to do in the worst minutes, and how to make sure it never comes to that.

• Cave-in response and rescue limits 12 min
• Special situations: manholes, pits, near structures and winter 12 min
• Building a trench-safe program 12 min

What’s included

• 24 lessons you can read at your own pace, on a phone or a computer
• A short quiz after every module, with the correct answer shown for any you miss
• A final exam of 25 questions (pass at 80% or higher)
• A numbered certificate of completion with a QR code anyone can scan to verify it
• Your progress saved to your account, with access that doesn’t expire

Questions

Can an employer check my certificate? Yes. Each certificate has a number and a QR code that opens a public verification page on this site.

Can I get a refund? Yes, within 7 days of purchase if you have completed less than 25% of the course and haven’t earned its certificate. Email support@toddallynmedia.com. Details are in section 13 of the Terms of Use. Payment is handled by PayPal; we never see your card details.

What do I need? A free account and any phone, tablet or computer. Questions or problems? Email support@toddallynmedia.com.