OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14296768
EXCAVATION,CONSTRUCTION,TRENCH,UNSTABLE SOIL,BURIED,CAVE-IN
Event description
EMPLOYEE BURIED IN TRENCH CAVE-IN
Investigation abstract
AT APPROXIMATELY 2 PM ON JULY 28, 1986, EMPLOYEE #1, A PIPE LAYER EMPLOYED BY TH THE SOIL WAS SOFT AND UNSTABLE. IN FACT, THE TRENCH WAS DUG IN BACK FILL WHICH H AD BEEN PUT IN PLACE ONLY ABOUT A WEEK BEFORE. THE PRESENCE OF QUARTZ PARTICLES IN THE SOIL WAS ALSO PRONOUNCED. A LADDER OR STEPS WAS NOT PROVIDED FOR EMPLOYEE S' USE IN LEAVING THE TRENCH. E W. STIKE CONTRACTING COMPANY OF 4702 ROCK ROAD, STREET, MARYLAND, WAS WORKING IN A 20 FOOT LONG TRENCH, 5 FEET WIDE AND 12 FEET DEEP, WHEN THE EAST SIDE CAVED IN AND COMPLEYELY BURIED HIM. HE WAS PREPARING TO CONNECT TWO 8 INCH PIECES OF SEWER PIPE. A STEEL TRENCH SHIELD WAS BEING USED TO SUPPORT THE TRENCH WALLS. TH E SHIELD WAS 16 FEET LONG, 4 FEET WIDE AND 8 FEET DEEP. HOWEVER, THE TRENCH SHIE LD LEFT THE BOTTOM 4 FEET OF THE TRENCH WALL UNSUPPORTED. A RAMMAY GAS-POWERED S HEEP FOOT TAMPER WAS BEING OPERATED NEAR THE TRENCH. THERE WAS ALSO CONSTANT VEH ICULAR TRAFFIC ON A ROAD WHICH RAN PARALLEL, AND 25 FEET AWAY FROM, THE TRENCH.
Victim
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 22 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 31
- 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.