Preventing Worker Deaths from Trench Cave-Ins (Superseded)

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  This document has been superseded and the new version can be found here. Workers are at risk of death from cave-ins during trenching and excavation activities. NIOSH recommends engineering controls, protective equipment, and safe work practices to minimize hazards for workers. Workers who dig or excavate trenches are at risk of death if they enter an unprotected trench and the walls collapse. However, hazards associated with trench work and excavation are well defined and preventable. The OSHA standard for excavation and trenching, known as 29 CFR* 1926 Subpart P, describes the precautions needed for safe excavation work. There is no reliable warning when a trench fails. The walls can collapse suddenly, and workers will not have time to move out of the way. Even though small amounts of dirt may not seem treacherous, a single cubic yard of dirt can weigh more than 3,000 pounds, which can fatally crush or suffocate workers [Deatherage et al. 2004]. Even small, solid pieces of dirt can cause serious injuries. From 2000-2009, 350 workers died in trenching or excavation cave-ins - an average of 35 fatalities per year [BLS 2010]. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Case Reports Construction Industry Engineering Environmental Monitoring Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Mortality Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Case-studies Construction Construction-workers Engineering-controls Environmental-control-equipment Excavation-equipment Ground-control Ground-stability Industrial-engineering Industrial-hazards Injury-prevention Mortality-data Mortality-rates Occupational-hazards Personal-protective-equipment Regulations Safety-measures Safety-practices Work-environment Work-practices

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• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHPUB2011180
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Periodical
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  EID - Education and Information Division
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20038891
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2011-110823
• Citation:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2011-180, 2011 Jun; :1-4
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c9a5de9d6f789499ddc22c56fbbaea98fa647b563b8f44809231b8f310f12eba8724ac89e324f528d8f204be5451e3e6fcf9d285abc0dde25beceef64a91cc2b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/209974/cdc_209974_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 835.34 KB ]