ANTHC uses digital solutions to enhance construction excavation safety and training
September 17, 2018
The ANTHC Environmental Health and Engineering safety program recently completed work on a mobile app, found at https://www.excavation-safety.net, to improve excavation safety. Excavation work is a frequent part of ANTHC’s construction projects to bring water and sanitation services for the health of rural communities.
ANTHC developed the application with funding from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Susan Harwood Grant, which provides funding for worker safety training across the U.S. on a competitive basis.
When excavation is in progress on any ANTHC construction site, and before anyone enters the excavation, a designated knowledgeable person must complete an inspection to ensure worker safety. Due to the risk of cave-ins, excavation workers are 15 times more likely to be killed on the job when compared to all other forms of industrial activity. As he or she is responsible for managing safety on the excavation site, the designated inspector must have both the experience to anticipate conditions that make this work dangerous and the authority to quickly fix them.
The purpose of this app is to provide a tool for the inspector to carry out this important role efficiently. The application provides convenient access to a 25-question checklist that can be completed on one’s smart phone or similar device. Questions related to using protective measures such as sloping, shoring, or shielding, entering and exiting the excavation site, and making others aware of the site – all important safety aspects – are part of the checklist. The app also allows the results of each inspection checklist to be automatically emailed to ANTHC project management for the record, reducing the administrative workload of paper checklists. Construction partners with ANTHC can download the Excavation Safety Checklist mobile app by visiting https://www.excavation-safety.net and adding the page to a device’s home screen.