Accident Report Detail

Accident Summary Nr: 642827 - Employee killed in trench collapse

Accident Summary Nr: 642827 -- Report ID: 0215800 -- Event Date: 12/09/1996
Inspection Nr	Date Opened	SIC	NAICS	Establishment Name
17671611	12/10/1996	1623	0	Marcellus Construction Co., Inc.

Abstract: Several employees were installing a 30 in. steel water line in a trench approximately 75 ft long by 14 ft wide by 9 ft deep. To protect the employees from cave-ins, four steel plates approximately 14 ft long, 8 ft wide, and 1 1/4 in. thick were installed with a backhoe alongside the banks of the trench and 1 to 2 ft deep at the bottom of the trench. The employer, however, did not install horizontal bracing. As a result, the bank behind one of the steel plates collapsed, causing the steel plate to tip over. Employee #1, who was welding a pipe joint at the time, was struck by the steel plate. He suffered multiple fractures and trauma, and was pronounced dead a short time after the accident.

Keywords: STEEL PLATE, FRACTURE, COLLAPSE, WORK RULES, CONSTRUCTION, TRENCH, STRUCK BY, BRACING, CAVE-IN

Accident Details
End Use		Project Type		Project Cost	Stories	Non-building Height	Fatality
Pipeline		New project or new addition		$1,000,000 to $5,000,000			X

Employee Details
Employee #	Inspection Nr	Age	Sex	Degree of Injury	Nature of Injury	Occupation	Construction
1	17671611			Fatality	Fracture	Excavating and loading machine operators	Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Trenching, installing pipe Fatality Cause: Trench collapse

Thank You for Visiting Our Website

You are exiting the Department of Labor's Web server.

The Department of Labor does not endorse, takes no responsibility for, and exercises no control over the linked organization or its views, or contents, nor does it vouch for the accuracy or accessibility of the information contained on the destination server. The Department of Labor also cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked Web sites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked Web site. Thank you for visiting our site. Please click the button below to continue.