Manual Excavation and Hand Digging Risk Assessment

Product Overview

This risk assessment covers manual excavation and hand digging, from planning and service locating through to close-out. It supports identifying changing ground, service, access and emergency risks before and during digging work.

Activities & Risks Covered

This assessment addresses activities and risks including:

• Planning excavation work, confirming permits and locating underground services
• Inspecting and setting up the dig area, edges, spoil areas and access controls
• Hand digging near underground electricity, gas, water, sewer and communications services
• Managing excavation depth, ground stability, collapse and entry risks
• Providing safe access, egress and controls around excavation edges
• Using hand tools and manually moving spoil while managing fatigue and injury risks
• Managing spoil placement, materials, adjacent plant, traffic and congestion
• Monitoring water ingress, hazardous atmospheres and contaminated ground
• Protecting adjacent structures, services and surrounding assets from soil movement
• Preparing emergency communication, stop-work responses and site close-out arrangements

Who is this for?

For contractors, workers, supervisors and businesses carrying out manual excavation and hand digging.

Activities & Hazards Covered

Legislation & References

The template records model guidance used to inform the documented controls. Applicable WHS/OHS laws and adopted Codes vary by state or territory, so confirm the current local requirements when tailoring the assessment:

• Model guidance: Model Code of Practice: Excavation work — 2.3. Controlling the risks; p. 17.
• Model guidance: Model Code of Practice: Hazardous manual tasks — 4.1 The hierarchy of control measures; p. 31.
• Model guidance: Model Code of Practice: Managing risks of plant in the workplace — Plant hazard identification — Traffic movements in the workplace; p. 17.
• Model guidance: Model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of falls at workplaces — 3.2 Identifying the hazards; p. 16.
• Model guidance: Model Code of Practice: Managing the work environment and facilities — 2. The work environment; p. 13.
• Model guidance: Model Code of Practice: Managing the risk of fatigue at work — Provide sufficient breaks while at work; p. 30.
• Model guidance: Model Code of Practice: How to manage work health and safety risks — 5. Step 4 — How to review controls; p. 27.
• Model guidance: Model Code of Practice: Construction work — 6.2 Workplace specific induction training; p. 41.
• Model guidance: Model Code of Practice: First aid in the workplace — 3. First aid equipment, facilities and training; p. 12.

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Standard Risk Assessment Features (Click to Expand)

• Activity-specific hazard identification and control measures
• Initial and residual risk ratings
• Assigned responsible persons for each activity
• Risk matrix and assessment classification
• Review, monitoring and sign-off fields
• Site-specific customisation before use