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House-foundation excavation policy and trench hazards

Summary A construction engineer questioned OSHA's policy treating house-foundation excavations differently from utility trenches under stated conditions, including its lack of a depth limit. OSHA acknowledged trench hazards but said it was not then likely to revise the June 1995 policy, while forwarding the concerns for review. The letter gives no separate new exemption criteria.
Document
Federal opinion letter
Agency
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Document number
1995-09-07-1
Date issued
September 7, 1995
Status
Active
Status last verified October 9, 2026
Topics
Workplace Safety OSHA 1926 Excavation
Source
View the official document

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September 7, 1995

Dr. Jack L. Mickle, Ph.D.
Civil and Construction
Engineering Department
Iowa State University
[Recipient address omitted]
Dear Dr. Mickle:

Thank you for your letter of July 10, in which you express your concerns with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) June 30 memorandum concerning the application of 29 CFR 1926.652 to house foundation/basement excavations.

We agree with you and the statistics you sent that trenches, in general, are dangerous. However, we do not believe that house foundation/basement excavations should be treated in the same way as utility trenches or similar excavations when the conditions outlined in the memorandum are present. As you point out, the memorandum does not mention a depth limit for the exemption. This is not thought to be a problem, as the average depth of house foundation/basements is seven to eight feet.

At this time, it is not likely that OSHA will revise the policy set forth in the June 30 memorandum. However, your comments have been forwarded to the appropriate offices for a further detailed review to determine whether or not the policy needs to be revised sometime in the future.

Thank you for your interest in this matter.

Sincerely,
John B. Miles
Director
Directorate of Compliance Programs

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