Trenching: Prevention Video (v-Tool): Excavations in Construction

Please be advised. The scenes you are about to see deal with deaths at construction sites and might be disturbing for some people. All scenes are based on true stories.

Five workers were putting a sewer pipe into the bottom of a trench, with a ladder nearby to enter the trench. There was nothing in place to protect the workers inside the trench if the walls collapsed. While the workers were inside the trench, one side began to collapse. Two workers were able to climb out using the ladder. But the other three workers were buried in the soil. And unfortunately suffocated to death from the weight of the soil.

Let's look at the events leading up to this tragic incident and see how it could've been prevented. Employers must follow OSHA rules to protect workers in trenches. However, here, the employer did not follow OSHA's rules, which led to these workers losing their lives.

Let's go over the main points of OSHA's rules for trenches to see how to keep workers safe. All trenches must follow OSHA's rules. One cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a car, nearly 3,000 pounds, so unless the trench is cut entirely into stable rock, protection against cave-ins must be used for all trenches more than 5 feet deep or for any trench that show signs of cave-in. Before workers can do any work in a trench, a competent person must conduct an inspection to identify and remove any potential hazards. A competent person is someone who can recognize hazards in the area and who has authority to take quick actions to eliminate the hazard, which may include temporarily stopping the work.

Inspections must be performed at the start of every shift, after a rainstorm, or whenever conditions change. The competent person must also test the soil in a trench. OSHA requires at least one test by looking at the soil and at least one test by hand. If a person knows the soil types, they can pick the right protective system to keep workers safe when they're in trenches.

Source: OSHA

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