UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1488815.015 - Debest, Incorporated

Inspection Information - Office: Michigan Safety Cnst

Investigation Summary

At 9:00 a.m. on August 19, 2020, an employee was working as a construction labor er for a landscaping service. He and some coworkers were working in an excavatio n. They were installing 150-millimeter (6-inch) drain line for an underground ut ilities project. The excavation had been dug by their foreman, who operated the equipment. The excavation was approximately 8.2 meters (27 feet) in length by 3. 7 meters (12 feet) in depth. The angle of repose was approximately 88 to 90 degr ees on the north, south, and east sides. Soil conditions consisted of sand mixed with clay and some gravel, with previously excavated material, consisting of va rying levels of sand and clay, mixed in at different depths. Fissures developed in the excavation walls as the depth of the excavation increased. The workers di d not immediately report the hazardous condition of the excavation walls, as non e of them recognized the hazard associated with changing soil conditions. No acc ident prevention program had been developed or coordinated with the workers. The foreman and equipment operator was working at the jobsite and was in direct and plain view of the workers exposed to the excavation collapse hazard. The near-v ertical walls collapsed onto the employee. He suffered multiple severe injuries, and he was asphyxiated by being buried under excavated materials. He was killed . At one place, the account says that he was hospitalized, so he might have died after being removed from the collapse.

Keywords:asphyxiated, buried, caught between, caught in, collapse, construction, drain pipe, equipment operator, excavation, landscaping, training, trench, unstable soil, wall