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Free course · Beginner · 4 h 3 min · v1.0

Excavation & Trenching Safety

Cave-ins, soil classification, sloping, shoring, shields and the hazards that come with the hole — 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P, free and self-paced

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This course is step 1 of 4 in the Excavation Crew — Learning Path, which puts the free courses on this site in a reading order.
Not OSHA-authorized training. This free course is a study aid. It does not satisfy any OSHA or regulatory training requirement and no certificate or card is issued. Your employer's training program comes first.

A trench wall gives no warning and no second chance: a cubic yard of soil weighs about as much as a small car, and it arrives in under a second. That is why 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P is written the way it is — every employee in an excavation gets a protective system, and the two exceptions are narrow. This free, self-paced course works through Subpart P the way a competent person has to use it: what a cave-in is and what the numbers 4, 5, 6 and 20 feet each trigger; how soil is classified and by whom; what Table B-1 costs you in width, and when shoring or a trench box is the only thing that fits; and the hazards that come with the hole — no way out, bad air, water, spoil, traffic and the utility nobody located. Every requirement is quoted with the paragraph of 29 CFR it comes from, and each chapter links to the text on osha.gov so you can read it yourself.

What you will be able to do

  • Say when a protective system is required and name the only two exceptions in 1926.652(a)(1)
  • Explain what a competent person must do to classify soil, and why one look is not enough
  • Read Table B-1 and work out how much width a slope needs at a given depth and soil type
  • Tell shoring from shielding, and know what a trench box does not protect
  • Check an excavation against 1926.651 for egress, atmosphere, water, spoil, traffic and utilities
  • Recognize the conditions that require reclassification and the evidence that means everybody out

Course outline

Part 1

Cave-ins: why 5 feet, and what changes past 20

What a cave-in actually does, the vocabulary Subpart P uses, the 5-foot rule and its only two exceptions, and every depth threshold in the standard in one table.

  1. 1.1 What a cave-in actually does13 min
  2. 1.2 Subpart P: scope, vocabulary and who is who14 min
  3. 1.3 The 5-foot rule and its two exceptions13 min
  4. 1.4 4, 5, 6 and 20 feet: every threshold in Subpart P12 min
  5. Part 1 quiz5 questions
Part 2

Soil classification and the competent person

The four classes and what disqualifies a soil from each, the visual analysis, the manual tests you can do at the spoil pile, and the layers and changes that force a reclassification.

  1. 2.1 Stable rock, Type A, B and C14 min
  2. 2.2 The visual analysis: reading the site and the face12 min
  3. 2.3 The manual tests: hands on the soil13 min
  4. 2.4 Layers, reclassification and the competent person's authority13 min
  5. Part 2 quiz5 questions
Part 3

Sloping, benching, shoring and shields

Table B-1 and the geometry it forces, the benched and combination configurations in Figure B-1, the four design paths for shoring, and what a trench box protects.

  1. 3.1 Table B-1 and the geometry of a slope14 min
  2. 3.2 Benching, vertical lower portions and layered soils13 min
  3. 3.3 Shoring: four design paths, and installing it safely15 min
  4. 3.4 Shields: what a trench box does and does not do13 min
  5. Part 3 quiz5 questions
Part 4

The hazards that come with the hole

Getting in and out, the air at the bottom, water and adjacent structures, and everything at the surface: utilities, spoil, traffic and mobile equipment — plus the daily inspection that ties it together.

  1. 4.1 Access and egress: 4 feet and 25 feet11 min
  2. 4.2 Hazardous atmospheres and rescue equipment13 min
  3. 4.3 Water, adjacent structures and surface encumbrances13 min
  4. 4.4 Utilities, spoil, traffic and the daily inspection15 min
  5. Part 4 quiz5 questions
Final exam
20 questions · about 20 minutes
Go to the exam

Who it's for: Pipe crews, utility and site contractors, foremen and crew leads, competent persons taking on excavation duties, and safety coordinators writing an excavation program.

Frequently asked questions

No. No card, certificate, or credential is issued here, and nothing is downloadable at the end. Federal OSHA does not issue an excavation competent person card at all — what Subpart P requires is that your employer designate a competent person who is capable of identifying hazards and authorized to correct them, per 1926.650(b).

No. SteelToeTools is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by OSHA or the U.S. Department of Labor. We cite the public text of the standards so you can read them yourself, and every chapter links to the paragraph on osha.gov.

No. 1926.650(b) defines a competent person as one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are hazardous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures. This course covers the knowledge side; the authorization comes from your employer, and the judgment comes from doing the work under someone who already has it.

No. 1926.21(b)(2) requires the employer to instruct each employee in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and the regulations applicable to the work. Much of that has to happen on your excavation, with your soil, your equipment and your emergency plan. Use this course to prepare and to review.

About 4 hours 3 minutes: sixteen chapters of 11 to 15 minutes, four 5-question part quizzes, and a 20-question final exam. Your progress is stored in your own browser, so you can stop and come back.

Subpart P is a construction standard, and excavation work of the kind covered here is construction work. Where a related rule outside Subpart P applies — guardrails under 1926.502(b) on walkways over an excavation, ladders under 1926.1053, one-call requirements under 49 CFR 198 — the chapter says so and gives the paragraph.

No, and deliberately. Rescue after a collapse is done by teams with shoring equipment and training; untrained rescuers become the second and third victims, which is documented in the incident reports cited in Part 1. The course covers what to do in the first minute — get everyone out, call it in, keep people out of the trench — and stops there.

Sources & references

Content checked against these sources — last reviewed August 28, 2026.

Not OSHA-authorized training. SteelToeTools is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by OSHA or the U.S. Department of Labor. This free educational content does not satisfy any OSHA or other regulatory training requirement, and no card, certificate, or credential is issued. Only OSHA-authorized trainers can deliver OSHA Outreach Training (10-Hour and 30-Hour) and issue DOL cards. Always follow your employer's training program and applicable federal, state, and local requirements.

By — Editorial team of SteelToeTools.com (published by LSEA SAS) Updated v1.0