In February of 2020, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) unveiled a new program worth $2 million, focused entirely on trenching and excavating situations. The program is a safety grant, which can help employers buy equipment to protect their workers.
The way the Trench Safety Grant works is through matching, much like a matching 401K investment. If a company wants to buy equipment to reduce or eliminate injuries, the Ohio BWC will provide 4-1 matching funds, up to $12,000.
Who’s Covered By The Trench Safety Program?
Companies covered by the State Insurance Fund are covered under the Trench Safety Grant. Machinery can greatly reduce the illnesses and accidents associated with excavation and trench-digging. These are some of the most dangerous aspects of construction work.
Trenches and excavation are crucial parts of many construction projects.
Two Ohio construction workers died in collapsing trench accidents – unrelated and entirely separate – just days apart from one another in 2019. On a housing site near Dayton, a trench collapsed, which buried alive one of the workers on that project. Only two days later, a worker died in Marysville while he was repairing a water line.
The need for trench safety is clear and apparent. It is good news that the Ohio BWC has acted in helping companies prevent such accidents. Trench boxes and hydraulic shoring are two of the main strategies for making trench work safer; both of these approaches require not only new equipment, but training and education for these construction companies.
The Ohio BWC has also built a new website, Trench Safety Ohio, that has information, publications, and training materials to help protect construction workers doing trench work and excavation.