Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1247539.015 - Lake Of The Woods Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Appleton Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 12:03 p.m. on July 7, 2017, a maintenance crew consisting of a maintenance manager, Employee #1, Employee #2, and Employee #3 were working in a drainage ditch that was approximately 200 ft long. They were preparing the ditch for pipe and to allow water to move freely from a high point to a lower point away from a campground. The walls of the ditch ran east to west and were sloped between 32 and 45 degrees. The soil was type C soil; mostly a sand consistency. The maintenance manager was operating a mini excavator along the majority of the ditch except between the two stone walls where there was not enough clearance for the excavator. Two 16 ft long stone-mortar walls were positioned approximately in the middle of the ditch; one on the north side and one on the south side. Employee #1 was working near the east end of the walls and Employee #2 on the west end. Employee #3 was walking back and forth on the south side of the ditch, handing down tools, etc. to the other employees as needed. At the time of the accident, Employee #1 and Employee #2 were hand shoveling between the stone walls. The manager was operating the excavator approximately 20 yards away to the west and Employee #3 was standing near the east corner of the south wall. The south wall gave way and collapsed into the ditch. Employee #1's leg was pinned up to the knee and Employee #2 was pinned up to the upper thigh. Employee #3 fell into the ditch, but was not injured. Employee #1 sustained a broken tibia and employee #2 sustained a broken femur, tibia, pelvis and T-3 vertebrae.

Keywords: Collapse, Falling Object, Fracture, Masonry Wall, Pinned, Struck By, Trench