Death in a Trench - OSHA failures exposed

George_10

is still boiling as I write this. I read the article and thought, that could have been my boy or a friend's son.

There seems to be two very different sets of justice in this country. One for the haves and one for the have nots.
I guess history is replete with these examples, but it still does not make it right.

It sure smells of the fix was in and these people are going to be denied their just due. It makes it very difficult to believe that the government is on the side of the people.

Speaking of injustice, when are the Enron people going to be tried in court. After the election? I guess my cynisism is getting the best of me this morning.

Paul Pollets

Plumbing company liable??

The NYTimes reported today a very large expose on a Cincinnati based plumbing company. The company's lack of safety for trenching has caused 2 deaths, and ignores basic safety issues. OSHA will pass out a $5K fine for "frayed extension cords", but is "unwilling" to find willful cause for criminal prosecution for 2 deaths. You may have to sign up on the NYTimes website to read the article, but there's no charge to do so. This is a must-read for PHC contractors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/21/national/21OSHA.html?hp

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Bill_14

Great Article Paul

Anyone involved with any excavation work should read this article.

Bill

Mad Dog

Trench work is nasty and no fun, but tragedy

can be prevented with proper shoring up. I quit a few companies as an apprentice for refusing to go down in to deep trenches that were not shored up. They would teach us about shoring in school, show us the osha films and then we'd go out on a job and told we better do it or they'd get someone else. Business agents rarely backed you up unless everyone refused. Glad I'm on my own and I never put my men in situations like that. mad Dog

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steve_26

everyone should read

I read it this morning as I have NYTimes as my home page.
It was very disturbing how a Gov. agency can place such little intrest on the death of a young worker 22yrs old.
And changing it's decision from Willfull to Unclassified.Due to some slick lawyer...Itmay even help close the door on the families Civil case...very sad....
it happened in Boston this summer the worker was very lucky
to get out alive.
Steve

[Deleted User]

i was in a cave in once..

14 ft deep sewer trench.. my boss thought i was a wimp and told me so...he finally had the excavator bring a shoring box to the site cause he didn't want to do the job himself..we were both in the box when it started raining,,as soon as the rain hit the clay, the whole side caved in and kicked that big steel box over till it hit the other side of the trench..the boss apologized to me and i went from being a wimp to being his savior..

Dave Yates (PAH)

my first week in plumbing

I dug a dead man out of a trench. He was the owner of the plumbing business and his two helpers were also trapped. One from the knees down; the other from the waist down. We were installing sewers a few blocks away - without shoring. Upon returning, I refused to finish without shoring.

A few years later, a boss instructed me to belly crawl out under the street, which had been severely undercut to expose the lateral connection. I refused & he stated he would fire me if I didn't go in the hole. Told him I'd be more than happy to hitch-hike home with my toolbox. He did it himself (fool that he was) and was pissed at me for weeks. As I recall, a few extra grease traps were sent my way(G).

Worst one I've ever done was 23' deep. Felt like a very long grave. We rock drilled and blasted our way down the lower 15 to 18 feet. Had one hell of a headache from handling the dynamite. T'was fun setting off the charges though(G).

Nothing but hydraulic shoring used here.

Last year, I visited the installation crew for the mains being installed due to a number of owners asking for estimates. 24' deep hole and the knuckleheads were working without any protection. A telephone pole just a few feet away. D'OH! I asked the young man and his "partner" what they were thinking. The fellow at the bottom shouted up that the top-man would yell if he needed to hustle out of there.

I thought back to that dead man and how he was suspended about two feet up off of the trench floor - crushed between two walls of solid clay as he attempted to jump to safety - his ditch was only 8' deep. The look on his face is one I will take with me to my grave. The screams emitted by his young bride upon her arrival still resonate in my memory. Don't chance it guys and gals - you only get one of them.

For those trapped partially? The affects can be just as deadly due to what's known as compartment syndrome. Your blood can become toxic during the period of time during which your appendages are cut off from circulation. Upon release, the tainted blood can course through your body and kill you from the toxins. It is vitally important to have medical responders on hand followinmg a cave-in with partial entrapment.

Work smart - stay alive.

Same goes for confined space entry.

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bob young

no shoring projects

similar cave in [no shoring ] staten island n.y. last week. back hoe operator decapitated buried plumber trying to dig him out. stupid is forever.

VivaVegas

A couple of weeks ago

a fella brought home a backhoe to dig a trench so that he could install the plastic four inch pipe needed to connect his home to sani-sewer line at the street. From what I can gather, he completed the trenching, went down in the trench to install the pipe and a small cave in occurred that buried him up to his waist.

Police and fire were alerted, came to the scene and rescue efforts began. Temporary shoring was apparently cobbled together and a fire ladder truck had deployed its ladder over the trench to allow ropes to be lowered and rescuers to operate from.

They got him dug out all the way down to his ankles. What happened then and who was in the trench besides the man is still unclear to me. Nonetheless, the trench collapsed, the man was buried totally and he died right in front of his wife and children who were watching the rescue efforts unfold. This tragedy was predictable due to the amount of rain that had fallen during November.

Anyone who has worked in excavating knows just how unpredictable earth can be. Trench boxes or shoring is essential in vertical cuts. Other than that, veeing back at the prescibed angle/to depth is the second solution.

Duane

A man died here recently in Rhode Island, and the not-installed trench box was right there, on the site. He left a pregnant wife behind. His company wants no part of the litigation, they say, hey, we had the box delivered and he went in anyways before installing it.

Unknown

OSHA fined that RI plumbing

company a large sum. There is however no sum to replace a life.

Larry (from OSHA)

Mad Dog, I agree with you

that these tragedies can be prevented, and that trench work is very nasty to say the least.

As to the way that federal OSHA handled that case, I really don't want to comment or speculate. There are many issues that the feds have to deal with and the burden of proof that goes with bringing a criminal case to the courts is monumental. Here in Minnesota, we have a state run OSHA and I deal with these situations all too frequently. We use the tools that the law allows us and enforce the best that we can. I firmly believe that the responsibility lies with the employer to provide training and the appropriate protective devices or systems to protect their employees while working in excavations to prevent the devastating events that can occur. I would urge anyone who does excavation work to check the regulations at osha.gov. The trench requirements can be found under the standards 1926.650 thru 652, plus the appendixes that follow.

To George and others who feel that the "officials" can't/won't do the right thing. I understand why you feel that way. But, and you may disagree if you want, I still believe that it is the responsibility of the employer to provide a safe workplace. If that is a trench 10 or 20 feet deep, then the employer must ensure the safety of the employee who is doing the work.

But tell me, what will it take. Every year, we investigate more than one fatality of an employee who died because he was just doing his job and if he didn't, someone else would. I stop at excavation sites whenever I see them because it is part of my job. If the trench isnt't safe, I issue citations. I've heard as many reasons for not using trench boxes as there are days in the year. You know that time is money and that for some people, moving on to the next job is more important than doing the minimum required to protect employees. I've heard "we have always done it that way. Never had a collapse in 20 years. We believe in safety first." And on and on.

If you feel that the laws for worker protection are not adequate, then tell your congressman. The tools that OSHA have are, by some peoples opinion, too weak. The death of an employee by willfull disregard of the OSHA regulations is AT MOST a misdemeanor. Prosecutors are reluctant to go forward with such cases.

If I never have to stop at a bad trench again it will be ok with me. If I never have to talk to the co-workers of a dead guy again, it would definately be ok with me.

Please tell me, if you can, what can I do more/better to prevent these needless deaths?

(By the way, the opinions/viewpoints expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect policies or viewpoints of the Department of Labor and Industry of the state of Minnesota.)

Larry

Dave Palmer_3

they did it again

same company was fined AGAIN last week for trenching with to protection,morons,you would think when you kill someone it would wake you up

Terry St.James_2

Construction is one of the most dangerous jobs around.

Back in the 70s I was working in Calgary Alberta. A young man close to my age at the time died in a trench. The local police didn't bother the company nor the union but did charge the foreman with manslaughter. Blamed him for cutting covers and not taking the time to dig a proper trench.