Do not stand where two things can close

The excavator is tight against the building wall. You step into the gap to watch the bucket, and the counterweight swings through that same gap toward a stack of panels. In the trench, a trench box sits close to the dirt, and a person is in the pinch between the box and the soil. On a demolition pile, a machine holds a slab up on its hydraulics while someone reaches under it to pull a cable. Caught-between means your body is the thing between two objects that come together. The machine does not have to be moving fast. It only has to move while you are in the gap.

Do not stand between a running machine and a fixed object. A wall, a trench box, the dirt, and a stack of material all count. If the machine moves, the gap closes on you. Spoil stays at least 2 feet from the trench edge. That distance is in 1926.651. Spoil piled on the lip can load the trench, and it fills the place you would use to step clear. Never stand under a machine that is held up only by its hydraulics. The machine needs blocking that can hold the weight if the hydraulics let go. We are working under 1926.600 and 1926.651. If a counterweight can swing into a stack, you are not in that arc and you are not between the weight and the stack.

Today, look at every gap a person might step into. If a machine is running, nobody stands between it and a wall, a trench box, or a stack. The counterweight swing stays empty. Spoil goes at least 2 feet back from the trench edge. We do not kick it closer to make room for the bucket. If a machine is holding something up, or the machine itself is up on its hydraulics, it gets blocking before anyone goes under it. We do not trust the cylinder. If you are guiding work in the trench, stand where the box and the dirt cannot close on you. If the only spot left is a pinch, we stop and change the setup. We do not squeeze a person in to save a move.