Inspection Detail

Note: The following inspection has not been indicated as closed. Please be aware that the information shown may change, e.g. violations may be added or deleted. For open cases, in which a citation has been issued, the citation information may not be available for 5 days following receipt by the employer for Federal inspections or for 30 days following receipt by the employer for State inspections.

Inspection: 1638745.015 - Southern Diversified Technologies Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Little Rock

Investigation Summary

At 1:00 p.m. on December 12, 2022, Employee #1 and Employee #2 were sitting inside a six-foot deep trench working on damaged fiber optic cable. The crew began working in the trench around 10:30 a.m. Employee #1 and Employee #2 were sitting inside the trench with their legs crossed, locating damaged fiber optic lines. Employee #3 was in the trench handing tools back and forth to Employee #4 outside the trench. The employees had been working in the trench for approximately three hours when the trench caved in the first time at approximately 1:00 p.m. A second cave-in occurred approximately five minutes later. Employee #1 was killed due to asphyxiation and crushed ribs. Employee #2 was hospitalized for his injuries. Employee #3 escaped with minor injuries that

Keywords:asphyxiated, collapse, crushed, crushing, engulfed, optical fiber cable, trench, trench box