Inspection Detail

Inspection: 762765 - Thrasher Engineering Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Charleston Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 12:30 p.m. on August 10, 1987, a construction crew resumed installing a manhole and 8 in. PVC sewer line in a 40 ft long by 30 in. wide trench that was 5 ft deep at the base of the manhole. The trench ran perpendicular to the blacktop road surface at manholes #5C and #5D, through a soft clayey soil. At 1:20 p.m., a wedge-shaped section of the clay wall on the north side of the trench, 20 ft west of the manhole, began to peel away. This area was cleared and benched off. At 1:25 p.m., Employee #1 entered the trench near the manhole to check the laser alignment on a previously installed pipe section. At 1:30 p.m., he was walking along the pipe back to the manhole when a section of the wall on the south face began to cave in. A coworker on top of the trench yelled that the wall was collapsing and extended his hand to Employee #1. He reached for the coworker's hand, then stopped, turned, and ran directly into the path of the collapsing wall. He was pinned chest high against the north wall of the trench, sustaining crushing injuries to his chest. Employee #1 was unconscious when he was removed from the trench and could not be revived by emergency personnel. He was transported to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Keywords: UNSTABLE SOIL, UNCONSCIOUSNESS, WORK RULES, CAVE-IN, PINNED, CONSTRUCTION, TRENCH, CRUSHED