Thank you.  I will let everyone know if I died.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Thompson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 4:28 PM
Subject: Cistern exploring


> 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.