OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #849380
DAVIDSON SEWERAGE & DRAINAGE CORP.
LAKE FOREST, IL·
Event description
EMPLOYEE KILLED WHEN TRENCH CAVES IN
Investigation abstract
On or about May 11, 1989, Employees #1 and #2 were working at the bottom of a tr ench, approximately 8.5 feet deep and approximately 30 to 36 inches wide, instal ling 5-foot sections of an 8-inch.clay sewer pipe. Employees #1 and #2 were stru ck by moving ground when the south wall of the trench collapsed. Employee #1 die d form crushing injuries. Employee #2 escaped unscathed. The causal factors of t he accident were that the trench walls were nearly vertical and were not shored, supported, or adequately sloped. A trench box was not used.
Victims (2)
-
#1 Fatality Age 23 Male
- Nature of injury
- Other (21)
- Part of body
- CHEST (5)
- Accident type
- STRUCK BY (1)
- Source of injury
- DIRT/SAND/STONE (12)
- Occupation
- Occupation not reported (999)
- Human factor
- OTHER (14)
- Environmental factor
- WORK-SURFACE/FACIL-LAYOUT COND (13)
- Task assigned
- Task regularly assigned (1)
-
#2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 32 Male
- Nature of injury
- Other (21)
- Part of body
- CHEST (5)
- Accident type
- STRUCK BY (1)
- Source of injury
- DIRT/SAND/STONE (12)
- Occupation
- Occupation not reported (999)
- Human factor
- OTHER (14)
- Environmental factor
- WORK-SURFACE/FACIL-LAYOUT COND (13)
- Task assigned
- Task regularly assigned (1)
Labels are OSHA's own, from the code dictionary published with the accident-investigation file. The raw code is shown beside each one so this page can be reconciled against OSHA's bulk data. OSHA notes that nature of injury, part of body, source of injury and accident type in this file are not coded to the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System, and that the occupation titles are not standardised — so these values are not directly comparable with the OIICS-coded severe injury reports.