In response to a recent spike in trenching fatalities, OSHA has updated its National Emphasis Program (NEP) on preventing trenching and excavation collapses. The NEP will increase education and enforcement efforts with OSHA inspectors recording trenching and excavation inspections in a national reporting system, and each area OSHA office developing outreach programs.
"Removing workers from and helping workers identify trenching hazards is critical," says Loren Sweatt, deputy assistant secretary of labor for OSHA, in a press release announcing the update of the program. "OSHA will concentrate the full force of enforcement and compliance assistance resources to help ensure that employers are
