Thanks for passing that along, as a reminder to all of us.
ASCE has a pretty good video course on excavation safety, covering OSHA regs, principles, etc. It's ~$500 well spent if you have inspectors and geologists in excavations.
I second dgillette's kudos for showing us the article. A few years ago, I put together a presentation for our contractor's on trench safety (India) and it was an eye-opening. In the USA even with OSHA, between 1980 and 1989 there was an average of 61 death/year. 1992 to 1999, there was 54 deaths/year - 74% from cave-ins, 11% from equipment and 15% from falling objects, fumes, electrocution, etc. This never makes the papers - wouldn't it be nice to have a daily "death" total from construction related accidents - to compare to every death of civilians in Afghanistan - or our troops - or others? Clearly, as with "StandUp to Cancer" - we need as a society to be more cognizant of work safety.
OSHA's Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Area Office investigated a fatality at the site of a newly-constructed administration building. A subcontractor had been hired to install a security fence. On the day of the incident, one post hole was left to be dug. All of the previous post holes had been dug on disturbed construction soil, but the last hole was in a landscaped area covered with mulch. The investigation revealed that the operator did not inspect the area where this last hole was to be dug before drilling and, therefore, was not aware of the landscape fabric beneath the mulch. Consequently, the landscape fabric was not cut to accommodate the 16-inch auger before drilling. Additionally, although the 1961 truck-mounted auger was originally equipped with a platform, it had been removed years before this incident, forcing the operator to stand on the mulch while operating the auger. The accompanying operator's instruction manual did not mention the existence of the platform as a standard piece of equipment for the auger, nor did it refer to it as a safety feature. Newer truck-mounted augers are equipped with a seated operator's control work station mounted on the vehicle. This is a standard configuration for products of this type. Additionally, the accompanying manufacturer's operating manual reflects safe practices for operating the auger from the operator's control station. Although the operator's station removes the operator from the ground, its use does not eliminate the hazard to nearby helpers working on the ground.
In this accident, as the rotating auger penetrated the mulch, it entangled the landscape fabric under the mulch and drew it into itself. The operator lost his footing and was drawn into the point of operation where the auger entered the soil. The operator sustained severe injuries including the amputation of both legs and he later died as a result of these injuries.
Sadder as it was likely a lot more painful and he was doing something less risky than being in an unshored deep trench. I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but it sounds like the English guy was just asking to get killed.
Howardoark - Any injury or fatality is incredibly sad, but I do have to agree with you. This job can be risky enough (we're not accountants,,,we work with big diggers, rigs often in quarries, or roads or railways), without entering into an unshored trench. I know that here in the UK, this type of behaviour is strictly forbidden and I guess we'll never know why he entered in. I know the Health and Safety Executive will be investigating this incident incredibly thoroughly but it will be little consolation to his girlfriend and parents.
I don't know what the answer is. For instance how could we prevent the incident you described? retrofit a guarded auger? Hand dig the first 1000mm? Make all rigs remotely operated retrofitted again?
I dunno, it's just a timely reminder to think about all our actions onsite, regardless of how experienced we think we are.
Regardless of the cause / fault, their still someone's partner or son. Just very sad.
in my younger, less-informed days, i've seen (while standing in the same trench) people escape death by one or two steps. luckily, i had enough forethought to stand on top of the pipe we were installing. the other fellow was out in the middle of the deepest part and somehow walked on water to escape the 20' tall 4' deep and 20' long section of the fat clay wall that fell in. no one had trained me on this stuff and i quickly learned that i should keep the vast majority of my body above the trench. and now that i've had many years of training, i exercise extreme caution around any trench and make my techs do the same.
and yes, when people are down in these trenches, they are asking for trouble. by the way, as engineers when you see something like that, i suggest you inform everyone you can that they should not be in there...apparently litigation can be an ugly thing when someone is killed and a civil engineer was standing there, walking by or knew that unsafe conditions existed and did nothing to warn everyone.
and soiledup, i've never even thought about that particular scenario. just goes to show that there's no such thing as a "no brainer" in our line of work.
The four guys who died in that trench from the story BigH linked to weren't even in the trench. They were apparently at the top of it when the side wall collapsed and pulled them in (that really sucks because I've spent a lot of time at the top of trenches looking down into them).
Thanks fore the info - the problem with AP stories, the reporters know very little details that we, as engineers, are interested in and stories, in the end, are quite lacking. If this is the case, then having the spoil pile offset only 600mm or 1000 mm from the crest of the excavation may be too close, eh?
