OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #759233
SEWER,FRACTURE,TRENCH BOX,INSTALLING,SAND,WORK RULES,CONSTRUCTION,TRENCH,CAVE-IN,LEG
Event description
ONE WORKER KILLED, ONE INJURED IN TRENCH CAVE-IN
Investigation abstract
ON JUNE 15, 1988, A FOUR MAN WORK CREW WAS INSTALLING 8 INCH PLASTIC SEWER PIPE AS DECLARED DEAD AT THE SCENE BY THE JOHNSON COUNTY CORONER. EMPLOYEE #2 WAS TAK EN TO METHODIST HOSPITAL IN INDIANAPOLIS BY LIFE LINE HELICOPTER. HE RECEIVED A BROKEN LEG. IN A TRENCH THAT WAS 28 FEET LONG, 7 FEET, 4 INCHES WIDE AND 18 1/2 FEET DEEP. E MPLOYEES #1 AND #2 WERE WORKING INSIDE A TRENCH BOX THAT WAS 26 FEET LONG, 4 FEE T WIDE BUT ONLY 8 FEET HIGH. A SPOIL BANK ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE TRENCH WAS STO RED AT THE TRENCH EDGE. THE TRENCH SIDES WERE NOT SLOPED TO THE ANGLE OF RESPOSE . THE SOIL CONTAINED A 2 INCH LAYER OF CLAY AT THE TOP, BUT THE REST WAS COMPOSE D OF SAND AND SMALL GRAVEL. AT ABOUT 3 PM THE WEST SIDE, WHERE THE SOIL WAS STOR ED, GAVE WAY. EMPLOYEE #1 WAS COMPLETELY COVERED; EMPLOYEE #2 WAS COVERED UP TO HIS WAIST. A RESCUE CREW WAS ABLE TO REMOVE THE TWO EMPLOYEES, BUT EMPLOYEE #1 W
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 28 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 13
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 12
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 18
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Hospitalized Age 25 M
- Nature of injury
- 12
- Part of body
- 16
- Event type
- 14
- Source
- 12
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 18
- 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.