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Date: | Wed, 19 Jul 2006 19:28:10 -0400 |
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In the 1970s I participated in the excavation of a rainwater cistern at the
Thomas Wolfe House in Asheville, North Carolina. It was filled to the top
with glass bottles (mostly Worcestershire Sauce bottles, which Mom Wolfe
used to disguise the 'gone by' meat which she got from the butcher at a
discount and fed to the boarders). The bottles, of course, are their own
kind of hazard.
We made a frame of 2 x 4s from which we dangled to retrieve the contents of
the cistern, item by item. Since then I've gone to work for the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and am glad one of our site safety officers was not
present to observe this. Don't recall that OSHA was even around.
You'll do yourself a favor to follow the advice of others and consult with
OSHA on this. There are some serious liability problems here. Confined Space
and excavation guidance is available from the the Corps main website at:
http://www.usace.army.mil/inet/usace-docs/eng-manuals/em385-1-1/toc.htm
One of my archaeological contractors called our safety officer the "safety
Nazi". The training films we get to support the recommendations in this
manual emphasize all the things it would never occur to you to even think
of, that can happen to you and/or your crew, and I recommend that all the
correspondents to this list take a look at this site. Pertinent to the
subject is section 25, but there are many other items that you may recognize
as pertinent to your job. Common sense is only the first line of defense,
and it will only go so far.
Our archaeological contractors, like construction contractors, must submit a
site safety plan. Even if you are not required by your contract, agency, or
educational sponsor to do this, ask yourself: "Do I know where the nearest
hospital is, and what the shortest route there is?". Most of us have never
needed to know that, but the one time that you do need that information, you
better have it. Think of explaining to the parents of your field school
student why their child died on your watch.
End of Jeremiad.
Tim T.
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