OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #825158
WORK RULES,CONSTRUCTION,TRENCH,SHORING,UNSTABLE SOIL,SLOPING,CAVE-IN,CONTUSION,LEG
Event description
CONSTRUCTION WORKER INJURED IN TRENCH CAVE-IN
Investigation abstract
AT APPROXIMATELY 10 AM ON DECEMBER 3, 1987, EMPLOYEE #1 WAS WORKING IN A 4 FEET P THE TRENCH WALLS BUT HE DID BENCH STEP THE BACK WALL SOMEWHAT. THIS WAS NOT AD EQUATE BECAUSE A PORTION OF THE BACKWALL COLLAPSED AND TRAPPED EMPLOYEE #1 FOR A PPROXIMATELY A HALF HOUR. THE COLLAPSING SOIL STRUCK HIM ON THE RIGHT SIDE AND K NOCKED HIM TO A SITTING POSITION. HE WAS BURIED UP TO HIS MID CHEST. HE WAS RESC UED BY OTHER WORKERS AT THE SITE AND FLOWN TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SHOCK T RAUMA CENTER AND RELEASED THE NEXT DAY. HE RECEIVED BRUISES TO HIS RIGHT SIDE AN D TORN CALF MUSCLES. WIDE, 5 FEET, 5 INCHES LONG AND 6 TO 7 FEET DEEP TRENCH. HE WAS USING A HAND SHO VEL TO DIG DOWN TO THE BUILDING'S FOOTERS SO THAT A CRACK IN THE FOUNDATION WALL COULD BE REPAIRED. WATER WAS LEAKING INTO THE BASEMENT OF A TOWNHOUSE. THE PREV IOUS MORNING ANOTHER EMPLOYEE HAD SATURATED THE AREA WITH WATER TO HELP DETERMIN E THE EXACT AREA OF THE LEAK. TWO-FOURTHS OF THE TRENCH WALLS CONSIST OF DIRT AN D TWO-FOURTHS CONSIST OF A BLOCK FOUNDATION WALL AND CONCRETE WALL. THE SOIL BEI NG EXCAVATED OUT OF THE TRENCH WAS OF A CLEAR BACK-FILL THAT HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY EXCAVATED APPROXIMATELY 2 WEEKS AGO. EMPLOYEE #1 STATED THAT HE DID NOT SHORE U
Victim
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 20 M
- Nature of injury
- 3
- Part of body
- 3
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 12
- Occupation code
- 864
- Human factor
- 18
- 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.