Australia Model Code of Practice: Excavation Work 4.1b: 4.1 Place excavated material away from the edge and manage runoff

All material adds load where it is placed, so it should not be stacked near the edge where it could cause a side collapse onto workers. Spoil should be kept at a distance from the excavation and outside the zone of influence, or ground support should be designed and fitted to take the added load, including groundwater pressure and saturated soil and materials. On sloping ground, the side for spoil should be chosen after considering ground conditions, access, existing services, whether machinery or vehicles must move alongside, service installation and backfill needs, and manual work in the excavation. Placing spoil on the lower side lowers the effective depth and the chance of material falling or washing in; spoil on the higher side must not raise collapse risk or cause flooding through ponding or by holding back runoff, and should be placed to channel rain and runoff away.