Grave Preparation and Interment Procedure
v2.2
Purpose. This procedure sets out how graves are located, excavated, secured, used for interment and reinstated at Everlasting Memorial Park, including the safety controls for excavation and confined space work.
1.Work order and location
The Cemetery Operations Supervisor will issue a grave preparation work order from the interment register showing the grave location, depth, the number of interments already in the grave, the coffin or casket dimensions and the service time. The team leader will locate the grave from the cemetery plan and survey pegs, will check the neighbouring graves and monuments, and will confirm the location with a second person before any ground is disturbed.
2.Site preparation and services
Before excavation the team will check the plan for irrigation, drainage and electrical services, will protect adjacent monuments and lawn with boards and mats, and will set up barriers and signage. Excavation will not begin within one metre of a suspected service until it is located.
3.Excavation
Graves will be excavated by machine where access allows and by hand where required. Spoil will be placed on a covered mat at least one metre from the edge. Any grave deeper than 1.5 metres, or any grave in unstable or wet ground, must be shored with the hydraulic shoring system before anyone enters. A person will enter an open grave only with a second person at the surface, the shoring in place and the confined space entry checklist completed where the grave meets the confined space definition.
- Locate and confirm with a second person
- Protect monuments, lawn and services
- Excavate to the depth on the work order
- Shore any grave deeper than 1.5 metres
- Complete the confined space checklist before entry
- Cover and barricade when unattended
4.Securing the open grave
An open grave will be covered with the grave cover and fenced with barriers at all times when the team is not working at it. Before the service the team will fit the lowering device, place the artificial grass, matting and chairs, and confirm the grave dimensions against the coffin. The team leader will sign the grave ready check in the interment register at least two hours before the service.
5.Interment
The cemetery team will attend the committal in uniform, will operate the lowering device on the funeral director's signal and will remain out of view until the family leaves. Before backfilling, the team leader will confirm the register entry and the coffin plate match. Backfilling will begin only after the family has left the graveside unless the family has asked to remain and take part.
6.Backfilling and reinstatement
Graves will be backfilled in layers and compacted to reduce settlement, mounded and topped with the lawn or garden finish for that section. The grave will be inspected at two weeks and at three months and any subsidence corrected. Reinstatement will be recorded in the interment register with the date and the person responsible.
7.Collapsed graves and exhumation
A collapsed grave will be barricaded immediately, reported as a hazard and consolidated under the supervisor's direction. Exhumations will be carried out only under the required approvals, with the Compliance and Records Manager present, with full PPE and with a written exhumation plan approved by the General Manager.