Requirements:
General

Excavation Permit

An excavation permit is required for all excavations covered by this chapter. The detailed project scope is included on the permit form.

This permit must be resubmitted if excavation limits (size or scope) change, or if work is not initiated within three months of original form submission. (See the Excavation Permit Form in Forms & Tools.)

The process for completing and closing out the permit is shown on the permit flowchart (see Forms & Tools).

Excavation Competent Person

An excavation competent person, as defined in Definitions, must be present during active operations where employees are expected to descend and where heavy equipment is in use for excavating. All employees working inside the trench or excavation should have a basic awareness of the hazards present. If work is being conducted in the trench by more than one subcontractor, each must have its own competent person when employee exposure can reasonably be anticipated.

Hazard Identification

An excavation plan and a site-specific health and safety plan are required in order to obtain an excavation permit. For subcontractors requiring annual trenching and excavation permits, a copy of their annual permit along with their Cal/OSHA activity notification letter must be submitted for the permit process.

For concrete coring or boring operations that involve contact with the soil, an excavation permit is required, but these operations may submit only a site-specific health and safety plan; an excavation plan is not required. Operations involving concrete coring and boring operations that have contact with the soil must have a utility location performed prior to the commencement of work.

For drilling operations, an excavation permit is required. An excavation plan and a drilling site-specific health and safety plan must be included with the permit application. (See Forms & Tools)

Surveys and Drawings

Review of construction drawings of all existing underground utilities is required for all excavations covered by this chapter (see Section B of the Excavation Permit Form, Forms & Tools).

An in-field geophysical survey is required for all excavation projects. Project managers and UTRs can contract this work themselves or ask the Mechanical Design Department, Facilities Design Services (MD-FDS) Group to contract it for them. At a minimum, the in-field survey must result in the successful location and marking of all utilities shown on the construction drawings.

Project managers and UTRs must be present during the in-field survey; MD-FDS should be present at the end to review the results.

Note: Project managers and UTRs should be familiar with the limitations of the available survey techniques. For more information contact the excavation safety program manager.

Any time an unknown/unidentified subsurface utility is encountered the UTR will stop the activity until the exact nature and condition of the utility can be determined through such means as additional drawing review, utility locating, and interviews.

In all instances a map showing the currently documented subsurface utilities will be posted at the job site along with the excavation permit and will be consulted in the event any unknown conditions are encountered.

Project teams will be responsible for updating all SLAC associated drawings including building, site underground utility, and site underground utility area drawings.

Specifications

All excavations greater than five feet in depth must be shored or benched. Excavations less than five feet in depth that are not shored must be examined by a competent person and found to have no potential for cave-in prior to entry.

All excavations greater than four feet in depth must have proper access and egress in place.

Inspections

All open excavations covered by this chapter must be inspected on a daily basis by a competent person. More frequent inspections must be conducted if conditions change (rainfall, heavy equipment, traffic vibration). All inspections must be documented and available for review at the job site, facility office, or construction site office.

Emergencies

In the event of an emergency situation requiring rescue from an excavation, SLAC or contractor personnel will not attempt to enter an unprotected or failed trench to perform a rescue. The fire department will be notified at 911 and the exact location of trenching activities given. Fire department personnel will be given the permit number so they may refer to the details of the excavation.

Personnel in the excavation who are physically able will exit immediately, providing assistance to others only when not endangering their own safety. Rescue services that can be performed safely from outside the excavation, such as hoisting a harnessed victim, may be undertaken while waiting for rescue personnel. Other personnel in the excavation will exit immediately, providing assistance only when not endangering themselves.