Two Construction Workers Die Inside Sewer Manhole in Indiana: FACE 87-67

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The case of a worker for a construction company who died when he entered a 7 foot deep sewer manhole with toxic and oxygen deficient atmosphere was examined. The worker was employed by a family owned construction company with a written, one page safety policy addressing employee responsibility, general safety guidelines, confined space safety and injury reporting. At the time of the accident the worker and his foreman were looking for an existing sewer manhole near a new housing project. Apparently the men located the sewer manhole, removed the cover, and the foreman entered the hole through a 24 inch diameter manway opening to check for sewer grade. The foreman collapsed in the hole. The second man, attempting to save the first, also collapsed in the hole. Atmospheric testing of the manhole revealed 15.7 percent oxygen at 3 feet, decreasing to less than 5 percent at 6 feet. Also at 6 feet, a 2 percent methane (74828) concentration was detected and a 0.1 to death for both men was listed as asphyxiation. It is recommended that no confined space entry be made without checking the atmosphere in the space. Employees should be carefully instructed concerning the dangers in confined space entry. This particular employer should develop a more comprehensive safety policy and procedures manual.
• Content Notes:
  Publication date provided by the authoring office. There is no publication date indicated on the resource.
• Subjects:
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Confined Spaces
  • Construction Industry
  • Fatal Outcome
  • Hazardous Substances
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • FACE-87-67
  • OSHA Region 5
  • Safety-research
  • Accident-analysis
  • Work-practices
  • Confined-spaces
  • Construction-workers
  • Toxic-gases
  • Breathing-atmospheres
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  All ; Confined Space ; Construction
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  NIOSH (In-House)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFACE8767
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Indiana ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  3 pdf pages
• Volume:
  1987
• Issue:
  67
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00186215
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB89-187926
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 87-67, 1988 Apr ; :1-6
• CAS Registry Number:
  • Hydrogen sulfide (CAS RN 7783-06-4)
  • Methane (CAS RN 74-82-8)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (NAICS 2022)
• Start Date:
  1987/07/21
• Resource Number:
  FACE 87-67
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164474/cdc_164474_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 258.04 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:2c43bb337750a859fc2996e09a56595608836d778188056adfcfd1a375501bfb66643303cae55650b2dcc9ae11143bb4ef7bee41034dbb5a00e59b0fa9378f4f