Most of the danger around an excavator isn’t in the cab. WorkSafe’s excavation safety guideline says most excavator-related deaths involve a person working near the machine rather than the driver. That’s the spotter, the pipelayer and the labourer with the shovel.
Here’s what that guideline and WorkSafe’s other guidance expect of civil and earthmoving crews across six hazards.
Operators often have badly restricted visibility of ground workers close to the machine, the guideline says. Its first option is an exclusion zone that keeps workers and plant apart. Where that can’t work, a trained spotter stays in constant contact with the operator.
WorkSafe also wants a two-way system agreed before work starts. Ground workers don’t approach until the operator says yes, and the operator doesn’t move closer than a set distance until the ground crew knows it’s coming.
Quick hitches add a second way to get hurt near the bucket. WorkSafe’s quick hitch guidance says accidents usually come down to two things, a hitch that fails and a person standing under or near the attachment. A hitch with its locking system not in place can work for a while, then suddenly swing open.
Check the pin or automatic lock before starting and at every attachment change, and keep the exclusion zone in place while fitting or removing one. Use the manufacturer’s pin only, never a structural bolt or a length of reinforcing bar. The guideline prefers a semi or fully automatic hitch over a manual one, and hydraulic excavators with an operating weight of seven tonnes or more need hose burst protection valves.
Rollovers put the operator at risk. After five excavator tip-overs on mine sites in 18 months, WorkSafe’s safety alert found machines working in unsafe areas was common to every one. Its rules include never digging underneath the excavator, keeping a safe distance from the edge of a face, and choosing the safest route when tracking across a site.
The same alert calls for roll-over protection on all cabs, seat belts worn, doors closed and a second way out of the cab. The excavation guideline adds that earthmoving machinery over 700kg, not counting attachments, with a seated operator should have a protective structure fitted. Plant shouldn’t work near the edge of an excavation unless the shoring can take the load.
The guideline is blunt about collapse. Excavations shallower than 1.5m have been known to collapse, and a worker bent over or crouching at the time can be seriously injured. The Health and Safety in Employment Regulations require any excavated face over 1.5m high to be shored, so far as is reasonably practicable, unless it’s cut back to a safe slope or another listed exception applies.
Keep spoil at least 1m back from the edge, and have someone competent check the faces frequently, because soil can change quickly as it dries out or gets saturated. WorkSafe also needs 24 hours’ notice of work in a trench more than 1.5m deep that’s deeper than it is wide at the top.
A drainage company sentenced in the Hamilton District Court had no safe system of work for its trench and hadn’t notified the work, WorkSafe’s court summary says. A worker was seriously injured when the trench, up to 3m deep, collapsed and engulfed him. The court fined the company $275,000 from a $500,000 starting point, plus $45,000 in emotional harm reparation.
Before digging, lodge a free enquiry with beforeUdig online or on 0800 248 344. Asset owners generally send plans within two business days, but beforeUdig says plans show only that services are present, not exactly where. It’s the excavator’s job to expose them by hand, usually by potholing, and not every asset owner is a member.
WorkSafe’s guideline says to assume every service is live until the owner says otherwise in writing. Keep mobile plant at least 2m from cables, gas transmission and high-pressure pipelines. If a gas line is hit, turn off the ignition, get out of the excavator and move to a safe distance.
The minimum approach distances for excavating with mobile plant are 4m from an overhead power line, 5m from a pole or stay and 12m from a tower. Anything closer needs a documented permit or consent from the line owner, held on site. Know how far your machine can reach, brief the operator and use a spotter.
An Auckland company was fined $330,000 after a worker died when the truck-mounted crane he was operating struck live lines during a timber delivery to a residential site. WorkSafe says the crane was 2.5m from the lines, well inside the 4m minimum, and the company hadn’t obtained the line owner’s consent. The worker had raised concerns about the site.
“Working near power lines is a well-known hazard, and there are clear rules and guidance in place for a reason,” says Brad Duggan, WorkSafe’s regional manager.
If plant does touch a line, the operator stays in the cab unless fire forces them out, and everyone else keeps well clear and shuffles away.
Changes to the Health and Safety at Work Act take effect on 1 April 2027. Businesses with fewer than 20 workers will be required to manage critical risks, which WorkSafe describes as those likely to cause the most serious harm, and every business will need to identify its own. WorkSafe’s excavation guideline and a beforeUdig enquiry cost nothing and are a sensible place to start.
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