Excavation, Trenching and Underground Services Awareness
A practical, visual awareness course on the hazards of excavation and trenching work in Australia. Learn why trenches collapse without warning, what causes them to fail, how benching, battering, shoring and shielding protect workers, how to avoid striking buried services using Before You Dig Australia and the WHS Regulation duties for high risk excavation work, as paced slides with diagrams, a real site decision scenario, quick self-checks and jurisdiction detail.
~40 minutes100% online, self-paced6 months access from the day of course start
What You Will Learn
Recognise why excavation and trenching work is high-risk, including the speed and crushing force of ground collapse
Identify the main causes of trench collapse and describe benching, battering, shoring and shielding at an awareness level
Explain how to avoid striking underground services using Before You Dig Australia, locating, potholing and careful hand-digging
Outline the model WHS Regulation duties for excavation work, including when a Safe Work Method Statement is required for high risk construction work
Choose safer responses to common excavation hazards including spoil management, access, atmosphere and emergency response
Course Content
1. Why excavation and trenching work can kill
2. What makes a trench collapse
3. Preventing collapse: benching, battering and shoring
4. Underground services and safe digging
5. Excavation duties, SWMS and other hazards
6. Apply it: a site decision scenario
Final Assessment - 10 questions, 80% pass mark, retakes available
Who This Course Is For
Labourers, plant operators, apprentices, site supervisors, utility and civil workers and anyone who works on or around excavations and trenches and needs a solid awareness of the hazards and the law.
Accreditation: This is a non-accredited awareness course. It builds awareness of excavation, trenching and underground-services hazards but does not make anyone competent to plan, design, supervise or carry out excavation work and it is not a licence or a unit of competency. It does not replace a construction induction ('white card'), the risk-management and safe-digging duties in the model WHS Regulations or the use of a qualified service locator and a competent person or geotechnical engineer for shoring and ground-stability decisions.
Suggested next course
Confined Spaces Awareness
$49 per person
$39.00
Prices are in Australian dollars and include GST.
Duration
~40 minutes
Format
100% online, self-paced
Lessons
6
Assessment
10 questions (80% to pass)
Certificate
Instant, verifiable
Access period
6 months access from the day of course start
Who it’s for
Labourers, plant operators, apprentices, site supervisors, utility and civil workers and anyone who works on or around excavations and trenches and needs a solid awareness of the hazards and the law.
Level
Beginner
Buying for a team? Set the quantity to the number of people. You’ll receive an enrolment code for each seat.
