OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14467658
OTTAUQUECHEE EXCAVATION
SHERBURNE, VT—
Event description
Two employees injured in trench cave-in
Investigation abstract
Employees #1 and #2 were installing 10 ft long sections of 8 in. sewer pipe in a rations from heavy equipment on an adjacent roadway; improper location of the sp oil banks; and the improper use of a trench box, which was being used instead of shoring or sloping. 15 ft deep trench. They had stepped approximately 8 ft out of the trench box to do a grade check with a laser beam when one of the vertical walls of the trench suddenly collapsed. Both employees (who were wearing hard hats) were thrown aga inst the opposite wall and covered with dirt. Employee #2 was buried to his head and easily rescued; he suffered scrapes and bruises. Employee #1 was buried und er approximately 2 ft of dirt for 4 to 6 minutes. Nearby rescue personnel restor ed his breathing. He was hospitalized with a fractured jaw and bruises. Factors contributing to the accident included: three preceding days of melting snow; vib
Victims (2)
-
#1 Hospitalized Age 25 M
- Nature of injury
- 12
- Part of body
- 9
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 12
- Occupation code
- 865
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 18
- Task assigned
- 1
-
#2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 22 M
- Nature of injury
- 3
- Part of body
- 9
- Event type
- 1
- Source
- 12
- Occupation code
- 865
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 18
- Task assigned
- 1
Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.