Construction Sub-Contractor Asphyxiated in Manhole: FACE 88-44

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  The case of a 26 year old male construction worker who died when he entered a manhole containing an oxygen deficient atmosphere was examined. The worker was employed by a prime contractor for whom he had worked before. He had 8 years of construction experience. He was working on the construction of a new sewer system. He was going to install a plug in the lines leading to the manhole to keep out the ground water and then break for lunch. A wooden ladder had been left in the manhole since some earlier construction but the hole had not been opened for about 6 months. A coworker arrived on the scene a few minutes later, saw the victim lying at the bottom of the manhole, and telephoned for help. One of the firefighters responding to the call entered the hole without respiratory protection and had to be pulled out. The cause of the death was listed as asphyxiation. Testing of the manhole indicated that oxygen levels were 20.5 percent at 5 feet below the surface, decreasing to 4.0 percent at 13 feet below the surface. It is recommended that the atmosphere in a confined space always be checked for oxygen and the presence of toxic or flammable vapors before entry. Confined spaces should never be entered without an observer outside and the use of appropriate rescue equipment. Contractors should ensure that all subcontractors have a safety program that addresses the hazards to which they will be exposed on the job.
• 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
  • Occupational Health
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Respiratory Protective Devices
  • Safety
• Keywords:
  • FACE-88-44
  • OSHA Region 1
  • Accident-analysis
  • Safety-research
  • Construction-industry
  • Construction-workers
  • Confined-spaces
  • Breathing-atmospheres
  • Work-practices
  • Respiratory-protective-equipment
  More +
• 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/NIOSHFACE8844
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  New Hampshire ; OSHA Region 1
• 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:
  1988
• Issue:
  44
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00186197
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB89-187678
• 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 88-44, 1988 Dec ; :1-5
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1989
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (NAICS 2022)
• Start Date:
  1988/08/20
• Resource Number:
  FACE 88-44
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164530/cdc_164530_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 261.86 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:59b03f56c009571aefaf5a24cf1f0b0cc4b36a0e37c06ee78fe69a023210475e2e610c702d6eab635e935e58e71e2efeb7832a6d58db7c294fd67269648e9a0f