105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #607861

EXCAVATION,FRACTURE,COLLAPSE,TRENCH,CRUSHED,RIB,SHORING,SLOPING,CAVE-IN,UNTRAINED

Event
EXCAVATION,FRACTURE,COLLAPSE,TRENCH,CRUSHED,RIB,SHORING,SLOPING,CAVE-IN,UNTRAINED
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
607861
Report ID
418100

Event description

TWO EMPLOYEES INJURED IN TRENCH CAVE-IN

Investigation abstract

EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 WERE IN A TRENCH ATTEMPTING TO REMOVE DAMAGED SECTIONS OF PV STURBED. THE EMPLOYEES DID NOT WEAR HARD HATS. A JOHN DEERE 400 BACKHOE WAS USED TO DIG THE TRENCH. EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 WERE FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES OF THE GOLF COU RSE AND COUNTRY CLUB. C PIPE USED TO PROVIDE IRRIGATION WATER FOR A GOLF COURSE. THEY HAD ALREADY REMO VED SEVERAL LENGTHS OF PIPE, AND WERE TRYING TO REMOVE ONE OTHER LENGTH WHICH WA S INSIDE SOME STEEL CASING. ONE OF THE TRENCH WALLS SUDDENLY COLLAPSED, TRAPPING BOTH EMPLOYEES. EMPLOYEE #1 SUFFERED A FRACTURED PELVIS AND RIB INJURIES. EMPLO YEE #2 RECEIVED LEG CONTUSIONS AND ABRASIONS. THE TRENCH WAS 6 1/2 FEET DEEP AND 3 1/2 FEET WIDE AT THE POINT OF THE CAVE-IN. NO SHORING WAS INSTALLED, NOR WERE THE BANKS SLOPED. NO LADDER WAS PROVIDED. THE EMPLOYEES WERE NOT TRAINED. EXCAV ATED DIRT WAS LEFT AT THE TRENCH'S EDGE. THE TRENCH SIDES HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY DI

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 36 M

    Nature of injury
    12
    Part of body
    14
    Event type
    2
    Source
    12
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    4
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 21 M

    Nature of injury
    3
    Part of body
    16
    Event type
    2
    Source
    12
    Occupation code
    999
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    4
    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.