2014 Excavation Safety in Review

1. 2014 Excavation Safety in
Review
Draft 4 30 2015

2. Criminal 2014
• US Marshalls take IL trenching contractor to jail.
• "A U.S. Marshall has taken an Illinois business owner into custody after the
employer failed to correct serious trenching hazards and pay OSHA
penalties.
• On Oct. 27, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals granted a motion filed by
Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez against the owner of Mike Neri Sewer
& Water Contractor Inc., based in Elk Grove Village, Ill.
• This action followed the owner's long history of failing to comply with
OSHA standards and orders of the independent Occupational Safety and
Health Review Commission.
• In October 2013, the Court issued an enforcement order against Neri and
when he failed to comply, the Court held Neri in contempt in July 2014 and
threatened him with possible incarceration.
• Last week, after receiving no response from Neri, the Court granted the
Secretary's motion to proceed with coercive actions, ordering the U.S.
Marshal to place Neri in the custody of the Attorney General.
• Neri will remain in custody until a District or Magistrate Judge certifies to
the Court that he has either fully complied with the Court's enforcement
order or has demonstrated he is unable to comply.

3. Criminal 2014
• U.S. Sino Investment, its
owner and a project
manager were indicted
Monday on involuntary
manslaughter charges in
the cave-in death of a
construction worker at a
Milpitas building site.
• Raul Zapata Mercado, 38,
was killed January 28,
2012, after a 12-ft. wall of
dirt collapsed on top of
him

4. December 2014
• Three trapped.
• One took four hours to
rescue.
• Buried up to chest.
• Trench 8-10 feet deep.

5. December 2014
• Ontario CA
• 9 feet deep with spoil
at edge
• Successful rescue

6. November 2014
• OH Trench death.
• One box.
• 16-18 feet deep.
• Dirt caved-in and
buried 32 year old
employee.

7. November 2014
• Myersville MD
• 10 feet deep.
• Died of internal
injuries after being
buried up his waist.

8. October 2014
• Grosse Point MI
• Officials expect recovery work
to continue at least into this
evening.
• Workers are removing about
two-thirds of the roadway so
they can drop a protective
trench box into the hole as they
try to recover the body, which
is believed to be 16 to 18 feet
underground.
• Owner was killed.

9. October 2014
• Boontown, NJ
• 10 feet deep
• Two died
• “excavated for a
French drain”

10. Oct 2014
• Grove City PA
• Eight feet deep
• Buried up to chest
behind blue ladder
• 90 minutes to rescue.

11. August 2014
• TX
• Piringer said the
workers are trapped up
to their
waists/shoulders in
wet mud and both are
conscious and
breathing.

12. July 2014
• Fort Bragg NC
• 15 feet
• “The 22 year old was
trying to connect two
pieces of drainage
pipes when a rock or
large clump of dirt
knocked a wall loose”
• Tekton faces $123,200
in penalties

13. July 2014
• Aurora CO
• 14 feet deep.
• 4 feet wide.
• Successful rescue.
• $14,000 Willful

14. June 2014
FL. Death
The man was not working in the
hole but he was standing on an
excavator.
He jumped off into the edge of the
trench and the 20 foot deep trench
gave way.
He was covered in about a foot and
a half of dirt.

15. June 2014
• NC
• "The man was lowered
into the trench on a
bucket in a backhoe
before the walls
around him collapsed,
killing him."

16. June 2014
• VA
• 7 hour rescue
• Buried up to chest
• 20 feet deep

17. May 2014
• Windsor CT
• Danny King, 51, was
crushed between a
backhoe and trench
box while inside the
trench, his father, John
King, owner of the
Bloomfield
construction company,
said Friday

18. May 2014
• VA
• Rescue crews were called to a
construction site on the 400
block of N. George Mason
Drive around 3:30 p.m. for a
report of a large piece of
construction equipment that fell
on a person.
• The victim, believed to be the
equipment’s operator, was
pronounced dead on the scene
by medics at 3:40 p.m.

19. May 2014
• Worker buried up to
his waist in St. Louis.
• Broken sewer pipe.

20. Mar 2014
• Cedar Hills OR
• Two workers from Apollo Excavation were
replacing a sewer line when dirt collapsed onto them.
• A third worker went in to help them and was buried.
• EMS workers helped uncover the face of a man who
was buried the deepest, so the man could breathe,
• The trench is about 15 feet deep.

21. Feb
2014
• VA
• "He was trapped up to his neck
and was starting to have
difficulty breathing when crews
quickly arrived and began their
rescue," says Frederick County
Fire Chief Denise Pouget

22. Purpose
• The excavation
standard is designed to
protect against cave-
in.
• Violation
• 13’ feet deep, Vertical
walls, type C soil,
undercutting walls

23. Competent Person
• Competent person
must inspect the
excavation. Visual and
manual test.
• Violation
• Excavation is
undercutting street and
front end loader only
adds weight

24. Training
• Workers must get
training prior to
working in the trench.
• What training is
covered?

25. Struck By Hazards
• Violation
• Worker under moving
bucket

26. Trench Boxes
• Violation
• This box only has one
horizontal brace across
each end.

27. Trench Boxes
• 1926.652 (g)(2):
Trench shields must
be within 2 feet of the
bottom of the trench.
• Incompliance

28. Sloping
• Type A ¾:1
• Exception for short
term duration under 24
hours.
• Violation
• 13’ deep vertical
• Note: swing radius
unprotected also

29. Sloping
• Jan 2006 – Worker
gets four ribs broken
• Type B Soil (must be
sloped at a 1:1)
• 8 foot side on left
collapses. 15 foot side
does not.

30. Trench Boxes
• Trench boxes must
extend 18 inches
above the grade or
bank.

31. Access and Egress
• Violation
• A ladder must be
available for access
into trench

32. Access
• What is the proper
access?

33. Egress
• Ladder or safe egress
must be available
within 25 feet of
travel.
• Violation
• 75’ long trench with
no ladder.

34. Egress
• Incompliance
• Ladder for use to get
out a box.

35. Hydraulic Shoring
• Violation
• No stability in this set
up.

36. Spoil Pile
• 1926.651 (j)(2):
Excavated material
must be kept a
minimum of 2 feet
from the edge.
• Violation.
• Spoil at edge.

37. Soil Classification
• Appendix A, section
(c)(2): The
classification of
deposits shall be made
on the results of least
one manual and one
visual analysis.

38. Soil Classification
• Soil is cracking due to
vibration from traffic.
Soil type was
classified as a Type C.
• Note: Vibration must
be able to be felt.

39. Power lines
• Equipment must stay
at least 10’ away from
power lines
• Violation
• This equipment got
within 5 feet of lower
power lines.

40. Swing Radius
• Violation: Excavator
extends 42 inches
beyond track. It is able
to strike anyone
walking by on this
site.
• This is incompliance.
Cones are used to
warn people.

41. December 2014

42. Utilities
• 1926.651 (b)(2):
Utility companies
shall be contacted 24
hour prior to
excavation to establish
the location of
underground utilities.
• Violation. JULIE requires 48 hours

43. JULIE
• 48 Hours
• CALL 811 OR 1-800-
892-0123
to place a local request

44. Supporting Utilities
• Incompliance:
Existing storm sewer
pipe is supported with
chains.

45. Hard Hats
• Violation: No hard
hats worn despite
being only inches
away from the bucket.

46. Quick Disconnect
• Buckets are falling onto
employees
• Must have a pinned connection
if hydraulic fails that prevents
the bucket from falling.
7/14/2014 OSHA's inspection found that one of the employees sustained fatal
puncture wounds from the bucket after it disconnected from the excavator
and rolled into the trench from a height of about 4 feet.

47. Charts
Type A

48. Charts
Type C
Type B

49. 49
Frequently Cited

50. #1 1926.652(a)(1)
• Protection from Cave-
in
• Many use double
stacked boxes when
over 10 feet.

51. #2 1926.651 (c)(2)
• Means of egress from
trench excavations. A
stairway, ladder, ramp or
other safe means of egress
shall be located in trench
excavations that are 4 feet
(1.22 m) or more in depth
so as to require no more
than 25 feet (7.62 m) of
lateral travel for
employees.

52. #3 1926.651(j)(2)
• Protection shall be provided by
placing and keeping such
materials or equipment at least
2 feet (.61 m) from the edge of
excavations, or by the use of
retaining devices that are
sufficient to prevent materials
or equipment from falling or
rolling into excavations, or by a
combination of both if
necessary.

53. #4 1926.651(k)(1)
• Daily inspections of
excavations, the
adjacent areas, and
protective systems
shall be made by a
competent person

54. #5 1926.651(k)(2)
• Where the competent person
finds evidence of a situation
that could result in a possible
cave-in, indications of failure of
protective systems, hazardous
atmospheres, or other hazardous
conditions, exposed employees
shall be removed from the
hazardous area until the
necessary precautions have
been taken to ensure their
safety.

55. #6 1926.651 (h)(1)
• Employees shall not
work in excavations in
which there is
accumulated water, or
in excavations in
which water is
accumulating,

56. #7 1926.651 (d)
• Exposure to vehicular
traffic. Employees
exposed to public
vehicular traffic shall be
provided with, and shall
wear, warning vests or
other suitable garments
marked with or made of
reflectorized or high-
visibility material.

57. #8 1926.651 (i)(3)
• Sidewalks, pavements and
structure shall not be
undermined unless a
support system or another
method of protection is
provided to protect
employees from the
possible collapse of such
structures.

58. #9 1926.651(j)(1)
• Adequate protection
shall be provided to
protect employees
from loose rock or soil
that could pose a
hazard by falling or
rolling from an
excavation face.

59. #10 1926.651(e)
• No employee shall be
permitted underneath
loads handled by
lifting or digging
equipment.

60. Summary
• Many contractors are
not putting in cave-in
protection for manhole
installations.
• Some companies have
the equipment to
protect against cave-in
but do not use it. Worker was hurt in a cave-in
when the excavation wall
collapsed into the box.

61. Exercise
• What is wrong here?

62. Quiz
• Short term excavation is less than ___ hours
• Utility companies shall be contacted at least ___ hours
before digging
• Equipment must stay at least ____ feet away from
power lines
• Excavated material must be kept a minimum of ___ feet
from the edge.
• Ladder or safe egress must be available within ___ feet
of travel.
• Type ____ Soil should be sloped at a 1:1