OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #693697
CHEST,WORK RULES,CONSTRUCTION,TRENCH,CRUSHED,SHORING,UNSTABLE SOIL,SLOPING,BURIED,CAVE-IN
Event description
CONSTRUCTION WORKER KILLED IN TRENCH CAVE-IN
Investigation abstract
BEFORE THE ACCIDENT, EMPLOYEE #1 HAD BEEN HELPING ANOTHER EMPLOYEE TROWELL FINIS COLLAPSING ON EMPLOYEE #1. THE WEST WALL OF THE ENTIRE TRENCH BROKE LOOSE APPROX IMATELY 4 FEET BACK, KNOCKING EMPLOYEE #1 TO HIS KNEES AND BURYING HIM. HIS FELL OW EMPLOYEES AND OTHERS ON SITE IMMEDIATELY ATTEMPTED TO FREE HIM. THEY WERE ABL E TO UNEARTH HIM TO HIS SHOULDERS, BUT COULD NOT SAVE HIS LIFE. THE MEDICAL EXAM INER'S REPORT DATED OCTOBER 30, 1987 STATED THAT THE EMPLOYEE DIED OF A CRUSHED CHEST ("ASPHYXIATION SECONDARY TO THORACIC COMPRESSION"). NEITHER THE TRENCH NOR THE EXCAVATION WERE SHORED, SLOPED, OR OTHERWISE PREVENTED FROM CAVING IN. THE 2 YEAR OLD BACKFILL SOIL, WHICH WAS VERY UNSTABLE AND TRASHY, WAS USED FOR THE T RENCH AND EXCAVATION. H A CONCRETE CAP OVER THE JOINT OF A CONCRETE PIPE CONNECTED TO A STEEL PIPE STO RM DRAIN. THE CONNECTION WAS LOCATED IN AN EXCAVATION LOCATED AT THE NORTHEAST C ORNER OF THE SITE. THE PIPE, A 12 INCH STEEL STORM DRAIN, RAN SOUTH THRU THE EXC AVATION AND INTO A TRENCH AT THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE EXCAVATION. THIS PIPE R AN INTO THE TRENCH APPROXIMATELY 12 FEET. THE TRENCH WAS 9 FEET 4 INCHES DEEP AT THE EXCAVATION, AND RAN SOUTH AN ADDITIONAL 37 FEET. EMPLOYEE #1 HAD BROUGHT A BUCKET OF WATER TO HIS COWORKER AND WALKED AWAY. A FEW MINUTES LATER HIS COWORKE R HEARD SOMEONE YELL EMPLOYEE #1'S NAME. THE COWORKER TURNED AND SAW THE TRENCH
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 56 M
- Nature of injury
- 21
- Part of body
- 5
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 12
- Occupation code
- 869
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 18
- Task assigned
- 2
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.