OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14563126
EXCAVATION,COLLAPSE,SHORING,DROWN,SLOPING,CAVE-IN,UNTRAINED,WATER
Event description
EXCAVATION SIDE WALL CAVED IN; EMPLOYEE BURIED & DROWNED
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS WORKING IN THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF A 70 BY 50 FOOT EXCAVATION WI MAIN TRENCH CREATED A FAULT. ADJACENT TO THE SOUTH WALL WAS A HEAVILY TRAVELLED HIGHWAY. THE EMPLOYEES WERE NOT TRAINED TO RECOGINIZE AN EXCAVATION HAZARD. TH ALMOST-VERTICAL 10 FEET HIGH SOIL WALLS. HE WAS SHOVELING OUT A SMALL TRENCH FOR USE IN CONSTRUCTING THE BUILDING FOOTING. FOUR FEET BELOW THE TOP OF THE SOU TH WALL WAS A PARTIALLY EXPOSED 12 INCH WATER MAIN, 70 FEET IN LENGTH. THE WALL BEGAN TO CAVE IN AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER, TRAPPING THE EMPLOYEE UP TO HIS LOWER THIGHS. THE SLIDE TRAVELED WEST ALONG THE SOUTH WALL, CAUSING THE 18 FOOT SECTIO NS OF WATER PIPE TO SAG AND SEPARATE AT THE WEST END. THE GUSHING WATER QUICKLY ACCUMULATED, COVERING AND DROWNING EMPLOYEE #1. THE WALL WAS NOT SHORED TO PREVE NT A CAVE-IN AND TO SUPPORT THE WATER MAIN. THE PREVIOUS EXCAVATION OF THE WATER
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 44 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 41
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- 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.