Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 164645.015 - Employee dies, is asphyxiated laying pipe when trench collap

Accident Summary Nr: 164645.015 -- Report ID: 0751910 -- Event Date: 03/01/2024
Inspection Nr	Date Opened	SIC	NAICS	Establishment Name
1732103.015	03/04/2024		238910	Smith Dirt Works, Inc

Abstract: At 9:00 a.m. on March 1, 2024, an employee working as a construction laborer and a coworker were attempting to locate a sewer pipe. The employee entered a 4-feet wide by approximately 9-feet deep by approximately 12-feet long trench to clear dirt from around the pipe. The trench had nearly vertical walls. The employee was clearing the dirt by hand with a shovel when a trench wall collapsed. The employee was crushed by the falling dirt, rocks and sand and died from asphyxiation.

Keywords: Asphyxiated, Clearing, Construction, Engulfed, Excavation, Excavator, Inexperience, Insufficient Supervision, Laborer, Lack of Engineering Controls, Lack of Work Procedures, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Hazardous Situation, Pipe, Sewer, Shovel, Soil, Struck By, Trench, Unstable Soil

Accident Details
End Use		Project Type		Project Cost	Stories	Non-building Height	Fatality
Multi-family dwelling		New project or new addition					X

Employee Details
Employee #	Inspection Nr	Age	Sex	Degree of Injury	Nature of Injury	Occupation	Construction
1	1732103.015	21	M	Fatality		Construction Laborer	Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Trenching, installing pipe Fatality Cause:

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