OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #891853
SEWER,EXCAVATION,WATER PIPE,CAVE-IN,BACKHOE
Event description
EMPLOYEE KILLED IN TRENCH CAVE-IN
Investigation abstract
At about 3:30 p.m. on September 15, 1989 Employee #1 and Employee #2 were instal h the backhoe to locate the 17 ft deep sewer line where they were to make the co nnection. Employee #2 stopped digging and went to use a port-a-pot a block away. While using the pot he heard his backhoe running. As he was returning to the tr ench he did not hear the backhoe running, and when he arrived at the trench he n otice that the north side of the trench had caved-in where the 17 ft deep connec tion was to be made. Employee #1 was not seen, but his truck was parked nearby. Employee #1 was buried in the cave-in. Employee #2 called "911". Employee #1 was fatally injured in the cave-in. The trench had been excavated in soft unstable soil, the sides were not supported, and the spoil pile was stored on the edges. ling water and sewer lines in a trench that had been excavated earlier in the da y. The trench was 90 ft long by 2 ft wide. Another trench was excavated that bra nched off the north side which was 2 ft wide by 42 in. deep by 20 ft long and wa s to be used to connect the waterline which was 15 ft from where the sewer line was to be connected. Employee #1 installed the water line and that trench was ba ckfilled. Both men then installed two 20 ft lengths of sewer line and cleanout i n the 90 ft long trench. This line ended about 30 ft from the west end. Employee #1 left the site to pick-up sewer line fittings. Employee #2 started to dig wit
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 40 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 4
- Event type
- 2
- Source
- 12
- Occupation code
- 585
- Human factor
- 17
- Environmental factor
- 6
- 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.