Abstract:

Trenching and excavation are basic, and often indispensable, activities in construction that present some of the most serious safety hazards to those involved.

This research used a mixed methods approach to identify the reasons for continued occurrence of these incidents despite the availability of proven engineering and administrative controls and the reasons behind limited adoption of protection systems for trenching and excavation. Two separate web-based surveys were administered to construction industry workforce. Survey-1 responses (n = 101) indicated that incidents occur because of lack of training, negligence, protection system not used or incorrectly used, and absence of a competent person. More than 90% respondents for Survey-2 contended that lack of hazard recognition is the primary reason for incidents and deaths. Analysis and discussion of the findings from primary and secondary data was used to develop that roadmap and framework for the multi-lingual and free training and decision-making web-based application called Safety in Excavation and Trenching for yoU (SETU).

SETU is a platform independent tool that requires no training for adoption. It is designed to improve worker safety by:
1) making information available on handheld devices,
2) breaking down cognitively complex concepts and intricate jargon into everyday language, and
3) offering an intuitive, easy to use interface for understanding and choosing protection measures of sloping, shoring and shielding.

Its features include a self-guided study section called 'Learn' that provides relevant information from key OSHA standards and about soil properties and its characteristics. The 'Protect' section is the decision-making support system which helps workers find the most appropriate protection system for their needs. It takes user input to build and render dynamic visualizations to provide information about protection systems and assist in job planning.

SETU is available at (https://shalini-priyadarshini.shinyapps.io/v4-calculatetrench/) in English and at https://shalini-priyadarshini.shinyapps.io/v4-calculatetrench-espanol/ in Spanish. SETU will improve industry access to information about OSHA guidelines, trenching and excavation hazards, soil classification, and assist in decision making for selecting protection systems for worker safety. In a pilot test conducted with the group of construction professionals from a general contracting company in the Washington DC area, the consensus was that SETU is straightforward, intuitive and precise.

Keywords:

Decision-making, training, construction, safety, worker, excavation and trenching.