BAUER

UAE Branch of Bauer Spezialtiefbau GmbH Germany

Excavation Emergency Rescue Plan

REVISIONS HISTORY

1/0

10/06/14

Issue/
Rev.

Date

First Issue
Description

HSEM
Prpd

HSEM
Revd &
Apvd

Table of Contents
1. Objective
2. Regulations and Legal references
3. Definitions I Abbreviations.
4. Responsibilities
5. Risk Assessment
6. Excavation Emergency Preparation
7. Excavation Emergency Rescue Procedure
8. Incidents Reporting
Appendices
Appendix A: List of Emergency Telephone Numbers
Appendix B: Incident Reporting Forms

1. OBJECTIVES
The following plan has been developed to minimize the severity of damage to human
health in the event of an unexpected incident down the excavated pit / level.
The Excavation Emergency Rescue Plan shall be initiated when a worker is trapped or
injured in the excavation pit. In such Emergency case, his co-workers may instinctively
want to rush in and help him. However, these impulsive rescues can often result in not
just one, but two or more casualties on the jobsite. This is why its critical for every
excavation team to have a clear rescue operation protocol in place.

2. DEFINITIONS I ABBREVIATIONS
UAE

United Arab Emirates

ERP

Emergency Rescue Plan

ETF

Emergency Task Force

EHSMS

Environment, Health & Safety Management System

3. REFERENCES AND LEGISLATION

UAE Fire & Life Safety Code 2011 Civil Defence
Law No. 21 (2005) concerning Waste Management
Environment Agency Guidelines for storage of Chemicals & Hazardous Materials 2006
AD EHSMS RF Element 6 Emergency Response & Management
AD EHS RI CoP 6.0 Emergency Management Requirements
AD EHS RI CoP 29.0 Excavations

4. RESPONSIBILITIES
4.1. Incident Commander
The Project Manager / Project In-charge shall be the On-Site Incident Commander. In
the absence of the above On-Site Incident Commander, the HSE Officer shall assume
the On-Site Incident Commander duties.

Duties may include:

1. Activating the Excavation Emergency Rescue Plan and Emergency Response
Team (i.e. ETF);
2. Identifying hazards and risks involved in an emergency response situation;
3. Activating internal facility alarms or communication systems to notify all
applicable personnel;
4. Establishing a staging area for equipment, resources and personnel;
5. Setting up an initial perimeter for security and entrance;
6. Notifying, if needed, the Police Department, Fire Department, and any applicable
State and Federal organizations;
7. Assuming overall authority for managing the emergency unless higher command
arrives (e.g., Fire Department Chief);
8. Performing emergency response termination procedures; and
9. Conducting emergency response analysis and arranging follow-up procedures.
4.2. Site HSE Officer
The Site HSE Officer advises the Incident Commander on all aspects of health and
safety on site and recommends stopping work if any operation threatens worker or
public health or safety.
Duties of the Site Safety Officer may include:
1. Conducting periodic inspections to ensure safety;
2. Monitoring on site hazards and conditions;
3. Monitoring the work parties for signs of stress, such as cold exposure, heat
stress and fatigue;
4. Controlling entry and exit at the access control points;
5. Selecting protective clothing and equipment;
6. Ensuring that protective clothing and equipment are properly stored and
maintained;
7. Periodically inspecting protective clothing and equipment; and/or
8. Stopping an activity if a safety concern arises.
4.3. Attendant
A standby worker or attendant shall remains outside of the site at all times. This
person should have no other responsibilities besides serving as a standby for the inside
workers. The attendant should maintain constant visual and verbal communication with
the workers inside the excavation pit. If an emergency arises, the attendant should
immediately summon a rescue squad (ETF). However, the attendant should not enter
the excavated area until help arrives. At that time, if the attendant has the proper
protective equipment, including life lines, he may help with rescue efforts.

5. RISK ASSESSMENT
A site specific Risk assessment / JSA will be prepared, addressing all the hazards and
its impacts and what control measures to be used to minimize the effects of incidents in
excavation pit to ALARP.

6. EXCAVATION EMERGENCY PREPARATION

Emergency preparedness is an important element of ERP. Because excavation site
emergencies usually arise within a matter of seconds, outside rescue simply cannot
respond quickly enough to most of these situations. Therefore, it is essential to be
prepared i.e.; training, hazard information, proper rescue equipment, and written
procedures as described below.
6.1. Training
Once you have created your emergency rescue procedures, its extremely important to
properly train all of your workers. Every team member should know exactly what to do if
a hazardous situation arises. According to OSHA, all construction workers should be
trained to recognize and avoid unsafe conditions. This is especially critical for workers
on trenching and shoring jobsites. Drills and/or exercises shall be performed at per the
emergency mock drill plan, to train the staff and ensure that the ERP is effective and all
participants are aware of and able to perform required duties under the plan.
6.2. Hazard Information
Information on the hazards present at the worksite must be known at all times to all staff
present in the excavation pit.
6.3. Emergency Equipment
The worksite supervisor is responsible for ensuring that an adequate supply of
emergency equipment is maintained at site. The emergency equipments may include;
breathing apparatus, a safety harness and line and a basket stretcher, a crane.
7. EXCAVATION EMERGENCY RESCUE PROCEDURE
When a Hazardous incident occurs in excavation pit, personnel at the scene must act
quickly to reduce the consequences of the incident. The actions taken depend on the
magnitude, complexity, and degree of risk associated. The following steps outline the
actions which should be taken in response to excavation emergency:
7.1. Warn others.
The Attendant shall warn others that are in the immediate area of the potential danger.

7.2. Assist injured persons.

If persons are injured minor, provide first-aid if you or another available individual is
trained to do so. If the injured person is having major injury, then emergency rescue
equipments shall be used to lift him out of the excavation pit. The Incident Commander
should be immediately notified when this occurs.
7.3. Assess the situation. Is this an emergency?
An emergency situation exists when there is a high risk to:
Persons.
Property.
During an incident in excavation pit, a more detailed evaluation of the sites specific
characteristics shall be performed by emergency task force members. The ETF team
shall identify existing site hazards to the Incident Commander. This information will aid
in the selection of appropriate rescue equipment. All the other staff in the excavation pit
shall be evacuated for it calmly.
7.4. Get help for all but minor injuries.
Based on the evaluation of the incident, the emergency scenario can be evaluated into
Tiers as the following;

Tier 1: events are typically of localized significance and can be handled using
resources immediately available.
Tier 2: events are typically of regional or Emirates significance and may require
involvement of specialized emergency rescue services.

Minor injuries (Tier 1) can be handled by personnel at the worksite. More serious spills
(Tier 2) for which the damage exceeds the capacity of our site personnel to deal with it
safely and effectively, then outside help must be requested by contacting the
Emergency Rescue Services i.e. Civil Defence (997), Ambulance (998) & Police
(999).
See Appendix A: List of Emergency Telephone Numbers
8. INCIDENTS REPORTING
If not already done, report the incident to HSE Manager as per the Incident Reporting
requirements.
See Appendix B: Incident Report Forms

Appendix A
List of Emergency Telephone Numbers

Appendix B
Incident Reporting Forms