Essential Guide to Trench Shoring: Techniques and Equipment for Safety

For construction projects, it’s pretty common to include trenching since it’s an important part of the process, but as necessary as it is, it does pose several safety risks. We’ve heard of instances when trench collapses occurred at construction sites, causing injuries and fatalities. To avoid such dreadful things happening to your project, implementing trench shoring techniques is crucial, which also guarantees the workers’ safety.

What are the different kinds of shoring techniques?

Trench shoring refers to providing a support system for trenches to avoid collapse, as well as soil, underground facilities, and foundation movements. There are different kinds of trench shoring techniques depending on the soil type, project requirements, and depth, but here are a few examples:

Shoring. This technique involves providing a support system to reinforce the walls, and it’s further subdivided into these categories:

• Hydraulic shoring. From the name itself, this type of shoring technique utilizes hydraulic cylinders to provide a support system and keep things secured.
• Steel shoring. This type of shoring technique is ideally used for varying trench depths and is also highly versatile and lightweight compared to the others.
• Aluminum shoring. Lastly, this one is used for deep and hazardous trenches, as it offers maximum stability and security.

Sloping. To minimize the possibility of trench wall collapse, the sloping technique is applied by cutting back the trenches, and it’s ideally used for shallower trenches with a stable soil condition.

Shielding. Otherwise called trench boxes, this trench shoring technique is used to protect workers within the trench by using prefabricated structures. Other than that, shielding is also used in instances where heavy traffic is involved and the soil condition is unstable.

Additional safety measures and essential equipment for extra security.

Besides implementing shoring techniques, it’s also crucial to use safety practices paired with the proper pieces of equipment to ensure the overall security of the project and its workers.

Conduct soil tests before the beginning of the project. Before every construction project is launched, it’s paramount that the engineers and other allied professionals conduct a soil test first to check its stability and know which shoring technique is applied in their case.

Provide ladders and exit points in designated areas. It’s also crucial to provide entry and exit ways, as well as ladders, in every area of the trench, especially if it’s a big project that covers a lot of land.

Use personal protective equipment (PPE). Make sure that every worker and site inspector wears PPE during work hours and site visits; check if they’re also wearing hard hats, protective gloves, and safety harnesses.

Provide an emergency response plan. In case of emergencies and other unlikely events, make sure that you have an emergency response plan ready so that the workers are able to evacuate safely and you can contact emergency services without a hitch.

Apart from all these additional safety tips, there are also local ordinances and state regulations you should comply with regarding trenching and excavation safety.

Trenching and excavation work go hand in hand since it’s an essential part of construction, but with the right trench-shoring technique and safety practices, your project can progress smoothly in a safe and secure environment for all the workers.