NY Times front page article haunting (PAH)

J.C.A._3

I'm a "cellar dwellar" by virtue of my licenses, but see far too many chances being taken. This should be at the least, a warning....In reality, a sounding alarm. Cutting corners just don't cut it. Chris

Dave Yates (PAH)

This past Sunday's edition

held the printed version regarding the ditch cave-ins and deaths as well as OSHA's response - or lack thereof. A very personal experience haunts me (see below) & I felt compelled to respond to their editor. He indicated the reporter researched the information for one full year - it showed and the visceral impact hit me like a punch in the gut. If you only read the on-line version, you read the abbreviated and watered down version.

Here's why I'm haunted by visions of a dead man whose time wasn't up:

The dead man in the trench.

July, 2000, by Dave Yates for Contractor Magazine

Copyright - Dave Yates

DURING THE very first week of my introduction to the plumbing trade, we were installing a sanitary sewer in an 8-ft. deep trench. The backhoe operator had finished the excavation, piled the materials sky-high right next to the ditch and left the site to go dig another sewer. We had no shoring.

A short while passed and the homeowner came out to ask us where the backhoe had gone. We asked why she wanted to know.

"A call just went out on the radio for anyone in this area with a backhoe to please respond to a cave-in a few blocks from here with three men trapped!"

At this same moment our boss returned, and upon hearing of the cave-in, shouted for us to grab our shovels and jump in the truck.

Riding in the open bed of his pickup gave us an unobstructed view as we turned the corner onto the street where the plumbing crew was trapped. I was shocked to realize we would be the first on the scene.

Bear in mind that communication moved at a much slower pace back in the early '70s.

One man was trapped up to his waist just outside the home's picture window, the second up to his chest in loose soil about 20 ft. from the street, the third man was caught between two solid walls of dirt just a few feet away.

I'd never seen a dead person prior to that day, but there was no question that the third man was already deceased. His skin had changed color and a trickle of drying blood could be seen at the corners of his mouth and nose. As long as I live, I will never forget his open eyes and frozen expression of abject horror.

We immediately began excavating the loose soil around the second man, as his breathing was labored from the heavy soil around his chest. He was facing away from the deceased man. He was unable to see him and kept inquiring about his friend's safety.

At one point, I glanced up to see how the plumber caught waist-deep was doing. He had all but extricated himself and would be OK. I was stunned to see the picture window full of people and the flash from cameras taking photos of the grisly scene. I was angry that they weren't helping.

Later, a backhoe and operator arrived. He brought his heavy equipment right up next to where we were working in spite of my pleas that he stay away from the edge of an already unstable trench. By now, large crowds had gathered and the police were on hand. I got the attention of a police officer, explained the danger and he told the operator to move away or be arrested. They then moved the crowd back and roped off the area. We finished extricating the second man and the ambulance personnel rushed him away.

We then turned our attention to the deceased. The difference between life and death that day was less than 5 ft. It was obvious that this man had tried to leap to his safety, as we could clearly see the bottom of the ditch and that he was caught several feet above the bottom -- in midair.

Shortly after we began loosening the soil around him, we heard a bloodcurdling scream. The police were holding back a young woman who we later found out was the wife of the dead man we were working to free. He also turned out to be the owner of that plumbing firm.

Later, when we returned to our own jobsite, I took one look at our own deep ditch and told my boss that I wasn't going back in without shoring. The events of that day are etched forever in my memory.

Each year there are roughly 1,000 reported cave-in accidents with injuries. On average 140 result in permanent disabilities and 75 in death. Cave-in deaths account for almost 1% of all work-related deaths in our country each year.

A cubic yard of earth weighs as much as a small car. Even being trapped up to your waist can become fatal due to what is known as "compartment syndrome," wherein blood is trapped in the constricted extremities and becomes toxic. Upon being freed, these toxins are then spread throughout the body.

Being trapped up to your chin poses a real possibility of death from the weight pressing on your chest, preventing you from breathing.

Soil conditions, vibration from traffic or construction equipment, ground water or weather and piling up the excavated materials along the ditch edge are factors that must all be considered. It takes about 10 times more force to push soil back into a stable configuration than to hold it in a stable configuration initially.

Under U.S. Department of Labor regulations, trench work is considered dangerous; no one younger than 18 is allowed to do it. The regulations regarding shoring and excavations are open-ended, meaning that they are written in such a way as to allow for wide variances regarding interpretation and enforcement.

Installing hydraulic shoring in a trench only takes a few minutes. You deserve the chance to live to see tomorrow; so do your employees.

I would much prefer to read about your successes in the paper than your death, the death of an employee and heavy fines from OSHA.

Plumb smart, plumb safe; it's plumb common sense.





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Murph'_4

this pic

may be a little gruesome, so be warned !!! this was in Ohio not sure of the date, but this young fellow was just starting to get his life together with a new baby !!



http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1044312/posts



http://www.scfaz.com/publish/Work_Site_Accident_Results_in_Decapitation.shtml



again !!! the pic goes with the ohio story, the NYC story does not have a pic (at least i do not)


Murph'