BEFORE TRENCHING WORK BEGINS

• Check soil conditions or other materials to be excavated.

• Check the proximity of utilities, buildings, and sources of vibration.

• Contact owners of utilities, service lines, or transmission piping and arrange shutdown or relocation if necessary.

• Call Digsafe or your local state authority to mark the location of underground utilities.

• Check for overhead hazards and power lines and for previously disturbed soil.

• Check for trees, boulders, or other potential hazards.

• Check the adequacy and availability of all equipment, including personal protective equipment (PPE), shoring materials, signs, barricades, and machinery.

DURING THE TRENCHING OPERATION

• Monitor changing ground conditions, especially after rain.

• Check for possible oxygen deficiency or hazardous gases.

• Verify adequacy of shoring and/or sloping as work progresses.

• Maintain safe entrance and exit methods.

• Inspect all sheeting, bracing, shoring, and underpinning.

• Observe changes in vehicular and equipment operations near the trench.

AFTER THE TRENCH IS OPEN AND WORK IS UNDERWAY

• Check the sloping of banks, sides, and walls, considering trench depth, soil type, water content, and vibrations.

• Confirm that entrance and exit methods are maintained, with ladders no more than 25 feet apart.

• Check the location and movement of heavy equipment, loaders, backhoes, and dump trucks.

• Ensure that excavated material is at least 2 feet from the edge of the trench.

• Inspect the adequacy of trench boxes or trench shields, if used.