The Verdict - The Lombardi Law Firm Blog
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Construction Site Trench Collapses - Lack of Support
Construction sites are dangerous places and people get killed when safety rules and procedures are ignored. In this instance the man died because the trench was not supported and the walls caved in.Field Tile Collapse - Another Danger in Farming
A Joice, Iowa man was trapped under the dirt that caved in from the drainage tile trench he’d dug in a bean field. As of this writing there are few details about the incident. Not even the man’s name had been released. There is no indication of whether he was working alone or with a helper. He was 79-years-old and the accident occurred in Worth County. Shoring up the sides of a trench a necessary part of trench work safety.Peosta, Iowa trench collapse (Zimmerman) is why construction workers need to protect themselves
I’ve written before about trench safety and how to avoid trench collapses. It’s obvious to me that some employers just don’t practice trench safety or trench collapse prevention. That means the workers need to be aware of how to stay safe while digging or being in a trench.
It’s being reported about a construction worker digging at a construction site in Peosta, Iowa that needed to be rescued after being buried up to his neck in soft dirt that collapsed onto him. His name is Adam Zimmerman of Monticello, Iowa. The crew he was working with was digging a trench to install geothermal heating system at a house. He was working for Kraus Plumbing and Heating of Monticello, Iowa. The dug him out and took him to the hospital in Dubuque.
Workers need to know how to protect themselves and if you say no to get into a trench and you employers fires you call IOSH and a lawyer. They can’t ask you to do something that could kill you when they are guilty of violating the safety laws of this state. That’s called retaliation and it too is illegal.
Here is the list of articles previously posted dealing with trench safety.
1. Construction Safety - Trench Collapse | Lombardi Law Firm
Jul 11, 2008 ... Marion, IL worksite saw the untimely deaths of two construction workers this past March when a trench caved in and buried the two men under ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../construction-safety-trench-collapse.cfm - Cached - Similar -
2. Construction Site Safety - A trench box would have saved the ...
Bartow County, Georgia – The construction site in Bartow County off I-75 exit 296 experienced a trench collapse; then a worker fell 20 feet and was buried. ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../construction-site-safety-a-trench-box-would-have-saved-the-georgian-tunnel-worker.cfm - Cached - Similar -
3. Trench Collapses On Pittsburgh Man | Lombardi Law Firm
Trench Collapses On Pittsburgh Man as he visits someone in the apartments. - 515-222-1110 - Three Fountains Office Park 4200 Corporate Drive, Suite 112 West ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../trench-collapses-on-pittsburgh-man.cfm - Cached - Similar -
4. Workers Safety: Trench Collapses on builder worker | Lombardi Law Firm
Workers Safety: Trench Collapses on builder worker - 515-222-1110 - Three Fountains Office Park 4200 Corporate Drive, Suite 112 West Des Moines, IA 50266.
www.lombardilaw.com/.../workers-safety-trench-collapses-on-builder-worker.cfm - Cached - Similar -
5. Construction Worker Safety: Trench collapse and rescue operations ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWpk7bZvvcs. Construction Worker Safety: Trench collapse and rescue operations - new sewer line, worker dies. ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../construction-worker-safety-trench-collapse-and-rescue-operations-new-sewer-line.cfm - Cached - Similar -
6. Construction Worker Safety: Trench collapse and rescue operations ...
In this video clip you will how many rescue workers it takes to save the life of one construction worker trapped in a cave-in or collapsed trench.
www.lombardilaw.com/.../construction-worker-safety-trench-collapse-and-rescue-operations-to-avoid-death-of-the-injured-w.cfm - Cached - Similar -
He was able to climb out of the trench but took only a few steps before collapsing and died at the scene. The employee of Simmons Co., of Pittsboro was ...
www.lombardilaw.com/news.cfm?page=4&catid=-1 - Cached - Similar -
8. Construction Site Accidents | Central Iowa Accident Attorney ...
A construction worker was crushed to death when a trench collapsed in Brooklyn. .... Construction Site Safety – Trench boxes stop collapsing trenches from ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../construction-site-accidents2.cfm - Cached - Similar -
9. Construction Site Safety – Trench boxes stop collapsing trenches ...
At Lombardi Law we make it a point to blog about the issues that affect those who are effected by accidents. Call us for a FREE evaluation of your case ...
www.lombardilaw.com/.../construction-site-safety-trench-boxes-stop-collapsing-trenches-from-trapping-workers.cfm - Cached - Similar -
10. The Lombardi Law Firm Blog | Lombardi Law Firm
Construction Site Safety - A trench box would have saved the Georgian tunnel ... So why are the rules for safety not followed when it involves trench work? ...
Construction Site Safety - A trench box would have saved the Georgian tunnel worker
Bartow County, Georgia – The construction site in Bartow County off I-75 exit 296 experienced a trench collapse; then a worker fell 20 feet and was buried. Firefighters worked furiously to save the man’s life, but couldn’t get to him. The job was making way for a new sewer line. The incident was thirty feet down and forty feet under the roadway, where the man was trapped.
This isn’t rocket science, its dirt work. You follow the safety rules and no one gets hurt, you don’t and someone can die. It’s really that simple. So why are the rules for safety not followed when it involves trench work?
Follow the link to see the video with Stacy Elgin reporting for Fox 5 News.
While we are talking about tunnels and how easily they can collapse let me draw your attention to tunnels in the Middle East. While researching this story I ran across a truly fascinating story about underground tunnels as a way to survive. There is an entire commercial enterprise on digging, running goods through and in owning the underground tunneling system in the Palestinian territories.
“Since Israel imposed its siege on Gaza after Hamas won democratic legislative elections in January 2006, the number of Palestinians tied to some segment of the tunnel industry has grown in direct proportion to the increasing lack of availability of raw materials and basic necessities, including food, fuel and medicine. Palestinian sources estimate that some 6,000 people are employed as diggers in the hundreds of tunnels crisscrossing the Gaza-Egyptian border.
But tunnels are not the romantic passageways portrayed in Hollywood films about World War II or Vietnam. You can die simply upon entering one—as a result of the tunnel collapsing, of suffocation from the tear gas lobbed in by Egyptian authorities, or from electrocution caused by the willy-nilly wiring jerry-rigged to provide lighting and ventilation. You can die simply by getting lost in the maze, or from breathing in the unstable sand. If you’re lucky, your body will be found and given a proper burial.
Like the toll houses of a bygone era, Gaza’s tunnels are owned by individuals who collect fees for their use. One such owner is Abu Khaled, a father of seven. Although he doesn’t dare traverse the 30- to 45-foot tunnel himself for fear it might collapse, Abu Khaled is among a growing number of tunnel entrepreneurs in the Philadelphia corridor, Rafah’s no-man’s-land between Gaza and Egypt. Others involved in the industry include diggers, runners, smugglers and merchants.
Tunnel owners earn $300 for each 100 pounds of goods smuggled in. (Smuggling animals for Gaza’s zoo can net up to $3,000 each!) With this revenue Abu Khaled supports 20 workers: diggers who do the dirty work, and runners who transport the goods. “
Hard to believe this can be the way people are living in this world. What is harder to believe is that the United States spent $28 Million coming up with a tunnel detection system. We can’t get contractors to spend the money for renting tunnel wall supports but we can spend $28 Million on equipment to locate them in the Middle East.
“Under pressure from Washington, Egypt recently escalated its efforts to shut down the tunnels, destroying scores in the past months and fast-tracking the acquisition and implementation of a new $28 million U.S.-made tunnel detection system. Israeli sources confirm that U.S. experts are working with the Egyptians to find and expose the tunnels along the Philadelphia corridor.
Providing the means for Gaza’s businesses to remain operating is a most lucrative form of smuggling. One tunnel owner who just a few months ago could afford nothing and used donkey carts for transportation now has enough money to afford luxury jeeps and merchandise for his wife.
The tunnels are not only used to supply Gazans with food, clothing, medicine, fuel and spare parts, however. They also make it possible to reunite families who have become separated when their non-Palestinian spouses find themselves prevented from reaching their husbands, wives or children as a result of the Israeli-imposed border closures. In desperation, they pay handsomely to be smuggled in or out of Gaza. One smuggler admits to having received $1,000 to reunite a European wife with her Palestinian husband and children living in Gaza.”
Is it only me or do other people see a failure of logic and sound economic policy in all of this?
Back to trench safety in America. Look at this video clip about trench safety. It will help you understand the concept.
Construction Safety - Excavator trench servicing and backfilling
OSHA has plenty of information available on trench and excavation safety.
Trenching and Excavation – by OSHA
The primary hazard of trenching and excavation is employee injury from collapse. Soil analysis is important in order to determine appropriate sloping, benching, and shoring. Additional hazards include working with heavy machinery; manual handling of materials; working in proximity to traffic; electrical hazards from overhead and underground power-lines; and underground utilities, such as natural gas. The following references aid in recognizing and controlling some of the hazards associated with trenching and excavation.
Special Emphasis: Trenching and Excavation. OSHA Directive CPL 02-00-069 [CPL 2.69], (1985, September 19). Establishes a National Emphasis Program (NEP) for the programmed safety inspection of trenching and excavation operations.
Working Outdoors in Warm Climates. OSHA Fact Sheet, (2005, September), 26 KB PDF, 2 pages.
OSHA offers a pamphlet on trench and excavation safety. Here are the warnings.
Protect Yourself
Trench Safety - OSHA 3197-04N-04
• Do not enter an unprotected trench!
• Trench collapses cause dozens of fatalities and hundreds of injuries each year.
• Trenches 5 feet deep or greater require a protective system.
• Trenches 20 feet deep or greater require that the protective system be designed by a registered professional engineer.
Protective Systems for Trenches
• Sloping protects workers by cutting back the trench wall at an angle inclined away from the excavation.
• Shoring protects workers by installing aluminum hydraulic or other types of supports to prevent soil movement.
• Shielding protects workers by using trench boxes or other types of supports to prevent soil cave-ins.
Competent Person OSHA standards require that trenches be inspected daily and as conditions change by a competent person prior to worker entry to ensure elimination of excavation hazards.
Safety Tips
• Inspect trenches at the start of each shift, following a rainstorm or after any other hazardous event.
• Test for low oxygen, hazardous fumes and toxic gases before entering a trench.
• Keep heavy equipment and excavation spoils at least two feet away from the trench edge.
• Provide stairways, ladders, ramps or other safe means of access in all trenches 4 feet or deeper.
Like I said it’s not rocket science. Construction workers, be smart, be safe and don’t risk your life for a boss and company that are too stupid and greedy to take the right safety measures. Know how to do the job the right way and if the boss or company asks you to do it wrong, call OSHA. If they fire you call a lawyer. Better to make the OSHA call then your wife calling the morgue.
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.