Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00416:reg:1:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00416
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 1 (pt 1/3)
Character Range: 6700–9500

1          INTRODUCTION

Excavation failures are particularly dangerous because they may occur quickly, limiting the ability of workers (and in some cases others in the vicinity) to escape especially if the collapse is extensive.
The speed of an excavation collapse increases the risk associated with this type of work and the consequences are significant as the falling earth can bury or crush any person in its path. This can result in death by suffocation or internal crush injuries.

1.1              What is excavation work?
Excavation work generally means work involving the removal of soil or rock from a site to form
an open face, hole or cavity using tools, machinery or explosives.
A person conducting a business or undertaking must manage risks associated with all kinds
of excavations at the workplace, no matter how deep.
Specific duties apply in relation to the higher-risk excavations such as trenches, shafts and tunnels. However these requirements do not apply to a mine, a bore to which a relevant water law applies or a trench used as a place of interment.
Any construction work (including any work connected with an 'excavation') that is carried out
in or near:
    * a shaft or trench with an excavated depth of greater than 1.5 metres, or
    * a tunnel
is considered to be 'high risk construction work' for which a Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) must be prepared.
Further guidance on the duties related to high risk construction work and SWMS is available in the Code of Practice: Construction work.

Other key terms relating to excavation work are listed in Appendix A.

1.2              Who has health and safety duties in relation to excavation work?
A person conducting a business or undertaking has the primary duty to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that workers and other persons are not exposed to health and safety risks arising from the business or undertaking.
The WHS Regulations include specific obligations for a person conducting a business or undertaking to manage the risks associated with excavation work including trenches.

A person conducting a business or undertaking who has management or control of a workplace where excavation work is being carried out must take all reasonable steps to obtain current underground essential services information relating to the part of a workplace where the excavation work is being carried out and areas adjacent to it before directing or allowing the excavation to commence. This information must be provided to any person engaged to carry out excavation work.
For the purpose of this Code, the person conducting a business or undertaking who carries out the excavation work is sometimes referred to as the 'excavation contractor'.
A principal contractor for a construction project (for example where