Editing Soil classification (section)

===OSHA===
The U.S. [[Occupational Safety and Health Administration]] (OSHA) requires the classification of soils to protect workers from injury when working in excavations and trenches. OSHA uses three soil classifications plus one for rock, based primarily on strength but also other factors which affect the stability of cut slopes:<ref name=OSHA-pa>{{cite web |url=http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10931 |title=Safety and Health Regulations for Construction Subpart P, Excavations, Appendix A |publisher=Osha.gov |date=9 August 1994 |access-date=2015-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305203236/https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10931 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

* {{vanchor|Stable Rock}}: natural solid mineral matter that can be excavated with vertical sides and remain intact while exposed.
* {{vanchor|Type A}} - cohesive, plastic soils with unconfined compressive strength greater than 1.5 ton per square foot (tsf)(144 kPa), and meeting several other requirements (which induces a [[lateral earth pressure]] of 25 psf per ft of depth<ref name=OSHA-pc>{{cite web |url=http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10933 |title=Safety and Health Regulations for Construction Subpart P, Excavations, Appendix C |publisher=Osha.gov |date=9 August 1994 |access-date=2017-08-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828230854/https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10933 |archive-date=28 August 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>)
* {{vanchor|Type B}} - cohesive soils with unconfined compressive strength between 0.5 tsf (48 kPa) and 1.5 tsf (144 kPa), or unstable dry rock, or soils which would otherwise be Type A (lateral earth pressure of 45 psf per ft of depth<ref name=OSHA-pc />)
* {{vanchor|Type C}} - granular soils or cohesive soils with unconfined compressive strength less than 0.5 tsf (48 kPa) or any submerged or freely seeping soil or adversely bedded soils (lateral earth pressure of 80 psf per ft of depth<ref name=OSHA-pc />)
* {{vanchor|Type C60}} - A subtype of Type C soil, though is not officially recognized by OSHA as a separate type, induces a lateral earth pressure of 60 psf per ft of depth<ref name="corrug">{{cite web|url=http://pacificshoring.com/store/media/pdf/corrugated-sheeting.pdf|title=Corrugated Sheeting, Tabulated Data|date=January 1, 2012|publisher=Pacific Shoring, LLC|access-date=August 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822075112/http://pacificshoring.com/store/media/pdf/corrugated-sheeting.pdf|archive-date=August 22, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=21360|title=Soil classification. - Occupational Safety and Health Administration|website=www.osha.gov|access-date=2016-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827032637/https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=21360|archive-date=2016-08-27|url-status=live}}</ref>

Each of the soil classifications has implications for the way the excavation must be made or the protections (sloping, shoring, shielding, etc.) that must be provided to protect workers from collapse of the excavated bank.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.osha.gov/dts/sltc/methods/validated/id194/id194.html |title=Sampling and Analytical Methods &#124; Classification of Soils for Excavations, ID-194 |publisher=Osha.gov |access-date=2014-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319035208/https://www.osha.gov/dts/sltc/methods/validated/id194/id194.html |archive-date=2014-03-19 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=OSHA-pb>{{cite web |url=http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10932 |title=Safety and Health Regulations for Construction Subpart P, Excavations, Appendix B |publisher=Osha.gov |date=9 August 1994 |access-date=2014-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715151544/https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=10932 |archive-date=15 July 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>