Excavation Access & Egress

Overview

Excavation Access & Egress should be managed through a planned system of work: identify the task-specific hazards, eliminate exposure where practical, use engineered or collective controls before relying on PPE, verify critical safeguards before starting, and stop the task when controls are missing or conditions change. This guide applies those principles specifically to safe ladders, ramps and routes for entering and leaving excavations.

Main Hazards

• • Climbing unstable faces or improvised access points
• • Access blocked by spoil, equipment or water
• • Collapse, falling material or structural instability
• • Falls, unsafe access and struck-by exposure
• • Underground services or changing ground conditions

Essential Controls

1. 1Provide a stable, unobstructed means of access appropriate to the excavation.
2. 2Keep access points protected from equipment movement and falling material.
3. 3Inspect the work area by a competent person and reassess after changing conditions.
4. 4Provide stable access, edge protection and physical separation from mobile equipment.
5. 5Control collapse, falling-object and service-strike hazards before work starts.
6. 6Stop work when weather, ground, loading or structural conditions invalidate the safe system.

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