Inspection Detail

Inspection: 304515240 - Baumgartner General Contractors, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation Division Of Labor And Industry Maryland Occupational Safety And Health

Investigation Summary

On May 11, 2001, Employee #1 and two other excavating crewmen were engaged in 18-in.-diameter effluent pipe installation activities at the site. The three-man crew was involved in this activity at the site for the second day. All of the excavation work had been conducted within a dike that bordered the eastern and southern side of a waste lagoon. Approximately 200 ft of pipe had been installed when the accident occurred. It was very late in the working day when the last section of 20-ft-long pipe was lowered in place down in the trench by excavator. Employee #1 and a coworker were engaged in the task of connecting the pipe to the previously installed section and had finalized the task. They were preparing to unhook the chain that had been secured around the pipe. At that time, the northern side of the trench collapsed, burying Employee #1 and a coworker. Employee #1 was buried to his chest and the coworker was buried to his waist. The coworker was able to free himself and escape without any significant injuries. However, Employee #1 was trapped for several hours and sustained significant leg injuries. Another employee, an excavator operator, witnessed additional failures that were beginning to take place and feared that any additional collapses would cover Employee #1. He drove the excavator, straddling the straight vertical 10-ft-tall sidewalls, so that he could position his bucket against the collapsing earth wall. His tracking equipment slid off into the excavation in the process and the bucket of the excavator was ultimately positioned directly above Employee #1. The trench was not provided with any type of a protection system against collapse. The strategy deployed to protect employees was to slope the trench. However, any significant earth removal from the berm, such as sloping, could undermine the berm's integrity and expose the berm to the potential of a breech failure. At the area of the trench where the trench collapse occurred, there was not any sloping deployed at all. Additionally, the company had not any trench boxes or any other shoring systems at the site to protect employees.

Keywords: CHAIN, EXCAVATION, FRACTURE, COLLAPSE, CONSTRUCTION, TRENCH, PIPE, SLOPING, BURIED, LEG