Earthmoving contractors will sometimes be hired to do work in or near cemeteries (they may, for example, be asked to dig up the soil around a church, in preparation for the repair of its foundation, or they might be tasked with excavating an unused area of a cemetery so that a mausoleum can be built on top of it). Here is some advice for contractors who have never worked in this setting before.

They should only transport small amounts of soil in their excavators

Even if a contractor who is working in a cemetery has brought with them a large excavator with a generously sized bucket, they should only ever transport small amounts of soil during any one trip they make in it.

The graves of those who have been buried in a cemetery will often be decorated by their living loved ones with wreaths, bouquets, figurines, artwork and photographs. If an earthmoving contractor is operating their equipment close to a row of graves that are adorned with these items and their bucket is brimming over with soil, anything that causes their excavator to bounce or tilt (such as the contractor driving over a big rock) could cause the soil that is piled high in the bucket to spill over and fall onto these delicate items. This soil could not only leave the grave site's decorations very dirty but could actually break the more fragile items amongst them. The discovery of these damaged gravesite ornaments could leave the deceased people's family members, who went to the trouble of buying or making these goods and placing them on their loved ones' graves, feeling very hurt. Simply by not overfilling their machinery's bucket whilst working in the cemetery, contractors can avoid spilling their soil and accidentally distressing these people in this manner.

They should use compact earthmoving equipment

In this environment, earthmoving contractors should use compact equipment, even if doing so will result in their work in the cemetery taking quite a bit longer to complete. The reason for this is as follows; trying to drive a standard bulldozer through the narrow pathways that line the areas between the rows of graves could lead to the driver accidentally knocking a headstone or a monument over with the blade of their equipment, as bulldozers are powerful enough to forcefully push over even big objects that are anchored to the ground. Fixing all of the damage caused by the use of this overly bulky equipment could cost a lot and could lead to the contractors having to take a break from their cemetery project.

However, if earthmoving contractors use compact forms of their usual earthmoving equipment, which will be small enough to pass through the cemetery's narrower paths with ease, there will be very little chance of the equipment doing any damage.