The Verdict - The Lombardi Law Firm Blog
Here at the Lombardi Law Firm we add blog content that is personal to those involved in accidents. We write this way so you have an understanding of how we think and handle cases - your case. We invite you to call us if you think we can help you resolve your legal problems. We settle most of our cases, because we do the basic legal work necessary to understand the facts of your case. We offer on our website, relevant and concise information that you will be helpful to you as you get ready to settle or to try your case.
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Steve Lombardi, 515-222-1110 or sdlombardi@aol.com
Fall Protection Safety Gear and the Kossuth County Grain Elevator Fall
Two people, can’t be sure if they were workers, fell 35 feet from a ladder at a site where grain elevators were apparently being constructed. The news blurb is pretty brief and doesn’t contain a lot of facts but here it is - Link.How can construction boots contribute to safety and lead to death of a worker?
Injured Iowans with legal claims can learn more about their rights at the Lombardi Law Firm website or call 515-222-1110 or email: sdlombardi@aol.com.Yet another confined space work accident!
And earlier this month a man was buried alive while working in a trench in Ankeny, Iowa. The trench collapsed at around 11:45 a.m. near 909 Northeast Chambers Parkway and he wasn’t freed until around 12:56 p.m. Juan Hernandez was the construction worker who had been laying pipe for new home construction.Construction Site Safety – Trench boxes stop collapsing trenches from trapping workers
On October 22, 2008 a 20-year-old man from Lenox, Mass. was working at a construction site occupying an excavated trench. No trench box was being used and the 8 foot deep, 2 to 3 foot wide trench he was standing in collapsed onto him, burying him and causing him to suffocate to death. The side of the trench that caved in on him was sand and clay. The trench was designed to be where drain pipes would be laid for someone's home. Although the construction owner had a good safety record and cared very much for his workers, his caring mattered little when this 20-year-old died on that job site.
Question: So how could this tragedy have been avoided?
Answer: A trench box.
A trench box would have prevented this accident. OSHA requires use of a trench box in this instance. Here is what 29 CFR 1926.652 states regarding protecting workers in excavations.
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Regulations (Standards - 29 CFR) - Table of Contents
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• Part Number: |
1926 |
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• Part Title: |
Safety and Health Regulations for Construction |
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• Subpart: |
P |
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• Subpart Title: |
Excavations |
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• Standard Number: |
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• Title: |
Requirements for protective systems. |
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Protection of employees in excavations. Each employee in an excavation shall be protected from cave-ins by an adequate protective system designed in accordance with paragraph (b) or (c) of this section except when: Excavations are made entirely in stable rock; or Excavations are less than 5 feet (1.52 m) in depth and examination of the ground by a competent person provides no indication of a potential cave-in. Protective systems shall have the capacity to resist without failure all loads that are intended or could reasonably be expected to be applied or transmitted to the system. |
Simply put any employee working five feet or more below grade in an excavated area must be protected by a shielding system that prevents exactly what occurred in this case; a cave in that traps the construction worker.