Educational guides on how workplace documents fit together — which document is typically completed before another, what is used alongside it and what follows. Connected to workplace forms, checklists and registers. Informational only — not legal advice; employers remain responsible for required documents and compliance.
What documents for excavation work means
Excavation work is usually controlled by a connected set of documents: a risk assessment and method statement for the dig, a search for buried services, inspection records for the excavation supports and edges, and a permit to dig where the employer uses one. Together they describe how collapse, services and falls into the excavation are controlled.
This page explains, in general educational terms, how these documents relate. It is not an official template and does not determine what your workplace must hold — the employer decides what documentation excavation work requires.
The documents in this set
- A risk assessment and method statement for the excavation.
- A search and plans for buried services.
- A permit to dig where the employer uses one.
- Support and edge-protection inspection records.
- An incident report and a review if conditions change.
Why these documents connect
The risk assessment and method statement set out the collapse, services and access hazards and the safe sequence; the services search reduces the risk of striking buried cables or pipes; the support inspection records confirm shoring, battering or boxes are sound and edges are protected; and a permit to dig applies a final check before breaking ground.
These documents reference one another at every stage — the permit relies on the search and the method, and daily inspections feed back into whether work can continue. They form a connected chain rather than standalone forms.
The typical sequence
- Required before: a risk assessment and method statement for the excavation.
- Required before: a search and plans for buried services.
- Used with: a permit to dig where the employer uses one.
- Used with: support and edge-protection inspection records.
- Completed after: an incident report and a review if conditions change.
- This is an example chain only — adapt it to the ground, task and the applicable law.
Who owns each step
- The employer or principal contractor owns the overall arrangements.
- A competent person prepares the risk assessment and method statement.
- A competent person carries out the services search.
- A competent person inspects supports and edges at intervals.
- An authorised person issues any permit to dig.
Common mistakes
- Digging with no services search or out-of-date plans.
- No support or edge protection, or no inspection record.
- A method statement that ignores the actual ground conditions.
- Not re-inspecting after rain, loading or a change in conditions.
Records and retention (high level)
Employers generally keep the risk assessment, method statement, services search, inspection records, permits and any incident reports together for as long as they are relevant and a period afterwards, in line with their obligations and data-protection duties.
This page does not state any required period — confirm retention with the applicable law and the official authority.
Completing and sharing as PDFs
These documents are commonly completed and stored as PDFs so the excavation pack — assessment, method, search and inspections — can be kept together on site. Exporting to PDF supports the record; it does not make any document official or guarantee compliance.
Employer notes
- Search for buried services before breaking ground.
- Provide and inspect support and edge protection.
- Match the method statement to the actual ground conditions.
- Re-inspect after rain, loading or changes, and review documents.
Worker notes
- Confirm a services search has been done before digging.
- Use the support and edge protection provided.
- Do not enter an unsupported or uninspected excavation.
- Report changes after rain, loading or a near miss.
Country considerations
Requirements for excavation safety, services searches and inspections vary by country, and the official authority differs. This page is general and high-level — not a statement of any country’s law and not a guarantee that any document is valid.
Confirm current requirements with the official authority for your country and a qualified professional.
Who is responsible
The employer or principal contractor is responsible for assessing and controlling excavation hazards, services searches, inspection and compliance. This page is an educational overview with template examples; it does not make any work safe and does not transfer responsibility.
Export, edit and share documents
The documents, policies and templates this involves can be exported, edited, signed, stored and shared as PDFs with the HELPERG PDF Editor.
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