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Construction Owner Died in Trench Wall Collapse
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2019/01/16
[PDF-942.88 KB]
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Description:In Fall 2014 an excavating company owner in his late 50s died in a trench collapse. The decedent was performing a sanitary sewer tap to a 60-inch sewer pipe for a new home under construction. The decedent used a CAT 325BL excavator to dig a 15- to 22-foot deep, varied width trench. The decedent centered and placed the 4-foot 6-inch wide excavator bucket at the top of west wall, which was nearly vertical, apparently to provide wall support. One coworker (Coworker A) was retrieving a piece of pipe outside of the excavation when the incident occurred. Coworker B was assigned to watch the walls. The decedent entered the excavation via a ladder without installing shoring or a trench box. He was standing next to the south wall near the 60-inch sewer and before he could perform any work, the day laborer yelled for him to watch out. He could not react in time when the south (left) wall of the excavation collapsed. The day laborer called emergency response. The first responders contacted another excavating contractor working nearby and he entered the excavation. The first responders and others who had entered the excavation had uncovered the decedent's head and arms almost to his waist when a second collapse (south wall and southwest corner) occurred and injured a first responder. Rescuers in the excavation were placing plywood and studs to shore the walls when an emergency responder noticed that clay was ready to fall in the northwest corner of the excavation. All rescue workers were ordered out of the excavation. The northwest wall's clay eventually fell and reburied the decedent. Trench rescue teams were called and the decedent's body was recovered from the excavation two days later. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS - Occupational injuries and fatalities are often the result of one or more contributing factors or key events in a larger sequence of events that ultimately result in the injury or fatality. The following unrecognized hazards were identified as key contributing factors in this incident: 1. Inadequate excavation/trench support/protection systems (shoring, benching, sloping). 2. A qualified person did not inspect trench prior to entry. 3. Insufficient understanding of hazards - inadequate employee training in the recognition and avoidanceof unsafe conditions and required safe work practices. RECOMMENDATIONS - MIFACE investigators concluded that, to help prevent similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Protect employees from trench wall cave-in with an appropriate protective system, such as trench boxes, shields, benching and/or appropriate sloping of trench sides designed in accordance with MIOSHA Construction Safety Standard, Part 9, Excavation, Trenching, and Shoring. 2. Ensure a qualified person inspects the excavation, adjacent areas, and supporting systems on a ongoing basis and that the qualified person ensures the appropriate measures necessary to protect workers are followed. 3. Employers should ensure that all employees are trained to recognize and avoid hazardous work conditions. Employers should also ensure that the training in recognizing and avoiding hazards is coupled with employer assessment that workers are competent in the recognition of hazards and safe work practices. 4. The employers of law enforcement and fire department personnel should develop standard trench rescue protocol and train their employees never to enter an unprotected trench during an emergency rescue operation.
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Pages in Document:1-12
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NIOSHTIC Number:20055853
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Citation:Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 14MI119, 2019 Jan; :1-12
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Federal Fiscal Year:2019
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Performing Organization:Michigan State University
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Peer Reviewed:False
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Start Date:2005/07/01
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End Date:2026/06/30
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Resource Number:FACE-14MI119
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