Our blog for news and advice for increasing performance and productivity on the worksite.

As a customer training specialist for the Trench Safety group of United Rentals, I’ve noticed that many contractors share some misunderstandings about protective systems for...

Some excavations are relatively straightforward and simply require choosing the right excavation protective system for the job. Others — deep or complex trenches — require a custom...

The “competent person” required by OSHA for certain types of work, such as trenching and excavation, performs a critical role on a jobsite and is instrumental in preventing...

Trench boxes, aka trench shields, are used to protect workers from the pressure and weight of soil in the event of a cave-in. When you are renting a trench box, follow these tips.

Every time your workers enter a permit-required confined space (PRCS), they’re trusting that your company and its managers and field supervisors have taken the necessary steps to...

For some contractors, confusion exists around OSHA’s trench box requirements. Understanding when it’s appropriate to use a trench box and how to use one according to regulation is...

Trench work can be complicated. It’s also potentially dangerous, as evidenced by troubling fatality rates. In April 2019, the industry saw more trench fatalities than in any...

Trench and excavation safety can be a life or death matter. Working in trenches and other excavations is one of construction’s most dangerous activities, but there are safety...

Working in a confined space poses inherent dangers, and OSHA regulations are designed to ensure that employers take effective steps to mitigate or eliminate them. OSHA introduced...

Many OSHA standards, such as 1926 subpart P for trenching and excavation, require a competent person to be onsite and perform certain activities. For example, during trench...