About NUCA
NUCA is the National Utility Contractors Association — the leading trade association working solely for the utility construction and excavation industry in the United States. NUCA’s nationwide network of state/regional Chapters and member companies represent utility contractors, excavators, suppliers, manufacturers, and other providers in the water, sewer, gas, electric, treatment plant, telecommunications, and excavation industries.
Safety is NUCA’s Top Priority
A successful safety program is a critical element in protecting your most important investment—your employees. An effective safety program will also help to reduce liability and vehicle accidents, protect the public, and reduce damage to materials and equipment. NUCA’s Safety Department is committed to providing underground utility contractors and excavators with the information, training programs, and technical assistance they need to establish and implement such a program.
What is a Safety Stand Down?
A Safety Stand Down presents the opportunity for employers to talk directly to employees and others about safety. These Stand Downs will focus on trench & excavation hazards and reinforce the importance of using trench protective systems and protecting workers from trenching hazards.
How to Conduct a Safety Stand Down
Companies will conduct a Trench Safety Stand Down by taking a break to have a toolbox talk or another safety activity to draw attention to the specific hazards related to working in and around trenches/excavations. We ask that companies provide feedback about their Stand Down, such as when it was held, how many workers participated, how you shared information with employees. NUCA will collect the information, publicize the overall total number of participants, and publish the names of the companies that held a Trench Safety Stand Down. You can find all the appropriate documentation in the TSSD Forms section.
Recognition of Participation
NUCA will provide a Certificate of Participation which will be mailed to all participating companies as well as publish a list of names of the organizations which held stand downs and sent in completion forms on our website and in our publications. Submit TSSD Completion Forms and any questions you may have to safety@nuca.com
Stand Down Goals
The goal is to reach out to the many workers who work in and around trenches and excavations to provide them with information about current excavation requirements and safety procedures for working in trenches. By reaching as many workers as possible we can reduce the number of fatalities and serious injuries that occur each year in our industry, and make others, such as municipal and industry workers who are also exposed, aware of these serious hazards.
Who Can Participate?
Anyone who wants to prevent trenching and excavation hazards in the workplace can participate in the Stand Down. We encourage utility construction, residential, highway construction, plumbers, military, unions, associations, educational institutes, and safety equipment manufacturers to participate. Please see the links to the materials to use during your Stand Down week.
Recognition of Participation
We ask that companies provide feedback about their Stand Down, such as when it was held, how many workers participated, how you shared information with employees. NUCA will collect the information, publicize the overall total number of participants, and publish the names of the companies that held a Trench Safety Stand Down. NUCA will also provide a Certificate of Participation which will be emailed to all participating companies. Download the Trench Safety Stand Down Completion form.
For more information about NUCA’s Trench Safety Stand Down, visit https://www.nuca.com/tssd.
At Ron Meyer & Associate Excavating, Inc, we’ve been providing underground and commercial construction to private and commercial businesses for 39 years. As the general contractor or subcontractor, our experienced foremen, equipment operators, pipe layers, truck drivers and well-maintained equipment fleet make us an undeniable choice for your excavating services. Let’s talk about your project!
As 45 years of experience as an underground/site contactor and a third generation contractor, Ron takes time to go through each individual project with the supervisor and is responsible for all scheduling and equipment logistics. He’s also involved in all troubleshooting for projects.