Gary Toothe has seen enough injuries and deaths in his years to realize that hydroexcavation involves much more than a water hose and vacuum. “There’s a huge void in training,” says the training manager for Federal Signal’s Environmental Products Group, who also spent decades in private business dealing with such equipment.
The most common mistake, he says, is sending an operator out alone. If something goes wrong, yelling for help is the only option. “There’s not much else you can do.”
Trenching and excavation violations are another common safety mistake, according to Toothe. “If you’re going more than 4 feet down, you’re
