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 #693820

FRACTURE,CONSTRUCTION,TRENCH,VIBRATIONS,CRUSHED,SHORING,SLOPING,CAVE-IN,SPRAIN,LEG

Event
FRACTURE,CONSTRUCTION,TRENCH,VIBRATIONS,CRUSHED,SHORING,SLOPING,CAVE-IN,SPRAIN,LEG
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
693820
Report ID
355115

Event description

EMPLOYEES INSTALLING SEWER PIPE, TRENCH COLLAPSED

Investigation abstract

AT APPROXIMATELY 10:30 AM ON NOVEMBER 24, 1986, EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 WERE HELPING EMPLOYEE MANAGED TO GET OUT. EMPLOYEE #1 SUFFERED A COMPOUND FRACTURE OF HIS RI GHT LEG, JUST ABOVE THE ANKLE, AND EMPLOYEE #2 SUFFERED A SEVERLY SPRAINED LEFT ANKLE. TO INSTALL 8 INCH PVC SEWER PIPE IN A TRENCH. THE TRENCH WAS 9 FEET DEEP, 120 F EET LONG, 3 FEET WIDE AT THE BOTTOM AND 13 FEET, 6 INCHES WIDE AT THE TOP. THE T RENCH WAS UNSHORED AND INADEQUATELY SLOPED. THE SIDES OF THE TRENCH WERE WERE CO MPOSED OF SHALE, WITH LAYERS SLANTING DOWN TOWARD THE BOTTOM ON THE TRENCH'S SOU TH SIDE. A TRACK LOADER HAD BEEN TRAVELING ALONG THE SOUTH SIDE, DUMPING GRAVEL INTO THE TRENCH AT VARIOUS POINTS TO SECURE THE PIPE . THE TRENCH RAN EAST TO WE ST, TOWARD MAHHOLE #4. ABOUT 40 FEET EAST OF MANHOLE 4, THE SOUTH SIDE GAVE WAY AND SLID DOWN, TRAPPING EMPLOYEES #1 AND #2 IN THE BOTTOM OF THE TRENCH. A THIRD

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 25 M

    Nature of injury
    12
    Part of body
    18
    Event type
    1
    Source
    12
    Occupation code
    869
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    4
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 41 M

    Nature of injury
    20
    Part of body
    18
    Event type
    1
    Source
    12
    Occupation code
    869
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    4
    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.