Inspection Detail

Inspection: 101055184 - Bates And Associates, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Savannah Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, a master plumber, along with a backhoe operator and an apprentice plumber, was laying 16 ft by 6 in. PVC pipe for a main sewer line. They were using the cut and cover method. They first dug about a 17 ft section of the trench, then laid the pipe, and then covered that section of the trench. Employee #1 was working in the trench, which was 38 ft 2 in. long by 36 in. wide by 8 ft 2 in. deep. He had finished chipping out a hole in the concrete manhole and had started back to get a section of pipe to insert into the chipped-out hole when a cave-in occurred. All that was visible was the top of his hard hat. One hour and fifteen minutes later Employee #1 was freed, but was pronounced dead at the site.

Keywords: WORK RULES, PIPE, SHORING, CAVE-IN, INSTALLING, CONSTRUCTION, TRENCH, UNSTABLE SOIL, SLOPING, BURIED