Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 202446258 - Employee injured when excavation caves in

Accident Summary Nr: 202446258 -- Report ID: 0950633 -- Event Date: 06/23/2007
Inspection Nr	Date Opened	SIC	NAICS	Establishment Name
310599220	06/23/2007	1521	236115	Michael Mullins

Abstract: At 1:04 p.m. on June 23, 2007, Employee #1 and a coworker were installing a septic pit in the front yard of a two-story duplex under construction. The coworker was using a John Deere loader-backhoe to dig the excavation, which varied in depth from 15 ft to 20 ft. Employee #1 was working inside the excavation when the walls caved in on him. It took over 80 rescuers about 8 hours to free him. Employee #1 sustained multiple injuries and was hospitalized for over one week. When the Fire Department arrived on the scene, the loader-backhoe was still extended into the hole. None of the excavation walls has been shored or otherwise protected from collapsing inward.

Keywords: EXCAVATION, INSTALLING, LOADER/BACKHOE, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, SHORING, UNSTABLE SOIL, CAVE-IN, BACKHOE

Accident Details
End Use		Project Type		Project Cost	Stories	Non-building Height	Fatality
Single family or duplex dwelling		New project or new addition		$50,000 to $250,000	2	24

Employee Details
Employee #	Inspection Nr	Age	Sex	Degree of Injury	Nature of Injury	Occupation	Construction
1	310599220			Hospitalized injury	Other	Construction laborers	Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Installing plumbing, lighting fixtures Fatality Cause: Trench collapse

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