CPA launches safe shoring guide

The UK’s Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA) has published a guide to managing excavations safely. ‘The Good Practice Guide for the Management of Shoring in Excavations’, published in collaboration with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), summarises the current best practice in excavations management and offers a simple temporary works process for the planning, design and construction phases.

Steve Hesketh, chairman of the CPA Shoring Technology Interest Group since 2010 and engineering director at MGF, is the primary author of the guide.

“The guide outlines a simple process for managing excavations and, by following this advice, those engaged in the planning and execution process will generally be doing enough to satisfy their health and safety obligations under CDM 2007,” said Mr. Hesketh.

“The CPA continues to support the construction industry in promoting best practice and by embracing opportunities to collaborate with industry-wide groups whenever possible. This approach will ensure that the UK plant hire industry remains at the forefront in terms of cost effectiveness, safety and technical excellence.”

The Good Practice Guide is one of a series of safety publications from the CPA, and is free to download from the CPA website, www.cpa.uk.net. Further parts are currently being developed to promote best practice and technical advancement in excavation support systems.