Excavation

Topic index

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Overview

Dig a hole in the ground and you have made an excavation. Excavations can be any size: wide, narrow, deep, or shallow. A trench is an excavation, too, but it is not more than 15 feet wide at the bottom. And, if you install forms or other structures in an excavation that reduce its width to less than 15 feet, measured at the bottom, the excavation is also considered a trench.

If you work in an excavation that is five feet deep (or deeper), you must be protected from a cave-in.
If a competent person determines that there is a potential for an excavation to cave-in, you must be protected regardless of its depth.

All available content

Publications

Brochures/Guides
- Excavations Safe practices for business owners and contractors
  This guide explains excavation and trenching safe practices and Oregon OSHA's safety requirements.
  English Order printed copy 09/24/2021
Fact sheets
- Excavation safety: requirements for competent persons
  Describes the excavation requirements for a competent person to perform specific actions such as analyzing, classifying, determining, designing, evaluating, inspecting, monitoring, and ensuring employees are removed from hazardous areas.
  English 03/20/2024
Hazard alerts
- Electrical hazard - call before you dig!
  Hazard alert on why to "call before you dig."
  English 09/02/2022
References
- Rules with requirements
  We get many calls and emails from employers asking the same question. It begins: “Which of your rules have requirements for…” You can finish the sentence with words like “recordkeeping,” “employee training,” and “written documents.” To answer those questions, we’ve organized these rules requirements into a filterable, sortable, searchable table.
  English 05/10/2019

Education and training

PESO
- La Construcción Residencial: Preparación del Área, Excavación, y Cimientos
  Residential Construction: Site Preparation, Ground Work, and Foundation
  Del programa PESO para la seguridad en la construcción residencial - PESO English-Spanish residential construction safety training
  Training program English Spanish 10/14/2020
- Excavations (pptx)
  Excavaciones
  Overhead English Spanish 11/14/2022
- Excavations (pptx)
  Excavaciones
  Workbook English Spanish 11/14/2022
- Excavations (pptx)
  Excavaciones
  Tailgate English Spanish 11/14/2022
- Excavations (PDF)
  Excavaciones
  PESO overhead PDF about excavation.
  Overhead English Spanish 11/14/2022
- Excavations (PDF)
  Excavaciones
  PESO tailgate PDF about excavation.
  Tailgate English Spanish 11/14/2022
- Excavations (PDF)
  Excavaciones
  PESO workbook PDF about excavation.
  Workbook English Spanish 11/14/2022
Resources
- Public Education Workshop Schedule July-December
  Schedule for in-person and virtual workshop classes around the state during July through December. Attending an Oregon OSHA class helps you gain important knowledge and skills.
  English 01/27/2026
- Public Education Workshop Schedule January-June
  Schedule for our workshop classes from January through June. Attending an Oregon OSHA workshop helps you gain important knowledge and skills.
  English 10/20/2025
Workshop
- Excavation Safety
  Workbook English 06/01/2002
- Excavation Safety
  Instructor Guide English 06/01/2002
- Excavation Safety
  Part 1
  Part 1 of 2 of the PowerPoint slides for the Excavation Safety education workshop.
  Overhead English 02/24/2020
- Excavation Safety
  Part 2
  Part 2 of 2 of the PowerPoint slides for the Excavation Safety education workshop.
  Overhead English 02/24/2020

Rules and rule-related

Final Rules
- Division 3, Subdivision C, General Safety and Health Provisions
  2-2013 Word version
- Division 3, Subdivision P, Excavations
  4-2011 Word version
- Division 3, Subdivision T, Demolition
  6-2013 Word version
- Division 4, Subdivision T, Miscellaneous
  9-2006 Word version
Interpretations
- Excavation/competent person and radial arm saw guarding
  09/30/1991
- Foundation/basement excavations
  05/29/2014
- Shallow trench excavations
  07/13/1993
- Shoring systems
  07/25/2002
- Trench shields
  03/25/2003
- Tripod, rescue-descend standards
  03/01/1989
Program Directives
- Excavation Standards
  Purpose: This instruction is intended to serve as a standard-specific reference for Oregon OSHA Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) regarding the application of Subdivision P of 29 CFR Part 1926, providing supplemental compliance inspection guidance and citation policies.
  A-176 11/01/2022
- National Emphasis Program (NEP): Trenching and Excavation
  Purpose: To establish a National Emphasis program for the programmed safety inspection of trenching and excavation operations.
  A-265 01/03/2019
- Underground Utility Installations: Inspection and Citation Guidance
  This program directive provides compliance safety and health officers guidance on conducting inspections of workplaces involved in construction, maintenance, and utility work activities associated with underground utility installations.
  A-303 05/02/2022

Video Resources

Borrow from the Resource Center

Excavation
See available titles
Borrow DVDs about Excavation from the Resource Center
Trenching
See available titles
Borrow DVDs about Trenching from the Resource Center

Watch Online

English
- Trench cave-in
  An Oregon OSHA compliance officers happened by this jobsite without trench shoring, and recorded his request to have the worker get out of the unsafe trench. Moments after that conversation started, the trench collapsed.
  Language: English Length: 1:31 minutes

Additional Resources

Call 811 before you dig - Oregon Utility Notification Center

Technical Manual, Section V: Construction Operations,
Chapter 2: Excavations: Hazard Recognition in Trenching and Shoring

Highlights

publication cover
Excavations – safe practices for small business owners and contractors.