OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14194385
COLLAPSE,WORK RULES,CONSTRUCTION,TRENCH,SHORING,UNSTABLE SOIL,SLOPING,BURIED,CAVE-IN
Event description
EMPLOYEE BURIED AND KILLED IN TRENCH CAVE-IN
Investigation abstract
AT APPROXIMATELY 9 AM ON AUGUST 7, 1986, EMPLOYEE #1, A PLUMBER, WAS POSITIONED INSTALL A SECTION OF PIPE, WHEN THE SIDE OF THE TRENCH CLOSEST TO THE PREVIOUSLY BACK FILLED TRENCH CAVED IN AND COMPLETELY BURIED HIM. HE WAS KILLED. THE EMPLO YEE WAS AN EXPERIENCED PLUMBER. AT THE BOTTOM OF A 7 FOOT DEEP, 2 1/2 FOOT WIDE TRENCH LOCATED AT THE SITE OF NE W POLICE STATION UNDER CONSTRUCTION NEAR ODENTON, MARYLAND. THE EXCAVATION HAD B EEN MADE IN SOFT, SANDY, UNSTABLE SOIL. THE TRENCH HAD NOT BEEN SHORED, SHEETED, BRACED, OR OTHERWISE SUPPORTED. THE TRENCH WAS LOCATED ABOUT 48 FEET FROM A ROA D WHICH HAD CONSTANT VEHICULAR TRAFFIC ON IT, AND RAN PARALLEL TO ANOTHER TRENCH WHICH HAD BEEN BACK FILLED THE PREVIOUS DAY. THE DISTANT BETWEEN THE WALLS OF T HE 2 TRENCHES WAS ABOUT 4 FEET. THE EMPLOYEES WERE INSTALLING 75 FEET OF 4 INCH PVC DRAIN PIPE. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS LEVELING THE BOTTOM OF THE TRENCH, PREPARING TO
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 30 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 12
- Occupation code
- 585
- Human factor
- 17
- Environmental factor
- 13
- Task assigned
- 1
Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.