5 Tunneling Safety Strategies

Underground construction comes with a number of safety hazards for workers. If you’re in the process of creating or re-vamping your safety procedures for your underground construction teams, you may be wondering which safety measures you should prioritize. Here are five important safety strategies based on OSHA guidelines for you to consider:

1. Make sure your employees are trained to notice hazards.

OSHA recommends having one trained staff member on site at all times during tunneling projects to identify potential hazards. You can take it one step further and make sure all of your workers are trained to identify common hazards and deal with them appropriately.

2. Stay in close contact with crews.

OSHA requires that employers make themselves available to crews at all times in case safety issues arise. It’s also an excellent idea to regularly check in with your tunneling crews about how projects are going and how safe they feel on the job.

3. Make your check-in/check-out procedures as efficient as possible.

It’s critical to always keep records of head counts of any workers underground. Additionally, it’s essential to make sure at least one employee is above ground if any other employees are underground. Having a clear, efficient procedure in place for project managers to keep tabs on employees who are working in underground areas will help you ensure the protection of your workers.

4. Regularly clear out rocks and other debris that may cause injuries.

It’s best to have a staff member carefully inspect and remove loose rocks and debris from all underground areas and surrounding above-ground areas, per OSHA guidelines. Ground support structures should also be regularly inspected to make sure they do not need to be repaired or replaced.

5. Get employees on board with fire prevention.

Make sure your employees know where the fire extinguisher is and know where flammable chemicals and equipment are being stored at all times. Additionally, make sure they know smoking is prohibited in areas where flammable equipment and chemicals are stored.