A way out of the trench

You are in a long trench laying pipe. The ladder is still at the end where you climbed in this morning. You have moved down the run. To get out you would have to walk more than 25 feet along the bottom to reach that one ladder. A ramp at the far end is blocked with a bundle of pipe. Someone starts to climb the shoring because the walers are closer than the ladder. Someone else scrambles up the spoil pile. Both of those pull on the dirt and the braces the trench is counting on. The trench is 4 feet deep or more. Getting out has to be a path you planned, not a climb up whatever is nearest.

When a trench is 4 feet deep or more, provide a ladder, a stair, or a ramp so no worker has to travel more than 25 feet sideways to get out. Sideways means along the trench, from the spot where people are actually working. Keep the way out clear. Pipe on the rungs, a panel leaned on the ramp, or a coil across the stair means that exit is gone. Do not climb the shoring. Those braces are what hold the walls. Do not climb the spoil pile. That dirt was moved back from the edge for a reason. Climbing it can drag soil toward the trench and put you on a pile that slides. The way out is the ladder, the stair, or the ramp, close enough to use without a long walk under the wall.

Before anyone is in the trench today, mark where people will stand. From each of those spots, the travel sideways to a ladder, a stair, or a ramp has to be 25 feet or less. If the run is longer, put in another way out before the work moves down the trench. Keep those exits clear all day. A bundle of pipe does not land on the ladder or across the ramp. If you catch yourself about to climb the shoring or the spoil pile, stop and use the ladder, the stair, or the ramp. If the only exit is blocked, clear it or get out by a way that is still open, and tell the foreman. Do not keep working a long walk from the only ladder on the job.