A Simple Guide for Not Getting Someone Killed in a Trench Collapse

Trenching and excavation hazards are one of the most simple issues to eliminate on the construction job site, yet, every year, dozens of workers are buried alive or badly injured by collapses.  Why?  Mostly laziness or pure ignorance.

I’ve written plenty of articles over the past 5 years about trenching and excavation hazards, including:

• Colorado Contractor gets Manslaughter Charges after 2018 Trench Collapse Death

• Owner and Project Manager Sentenced for Involuntary Manslaughter after Laborer dies in Trench Collapse Death

• Rash of 2019 Trench Collapse Deaths Highlight Need for Continued Training

• How Much Slope Should Your Trench Have?

• 5 Important Tips for Staying Safe While Working in Trenches,

• And plenty more.

Now, I’m not going to act like I’m some type of hero for writing these artless, but I’m getting absolutely sick of reading news stories about a worker who can’t go home to his or her family because they were working in an unsafe trench that collapsed.

OSHA is sick of it too. Since 2018, reducing trenching and excavation hazards has been OSHA’s priority goal and they have ramped-up their efforts for training and outreach, as well as compliance efforts. Despite of all of these efforts, trench related injuries and deaths still continue to happen.

Recent Trench Collapse Deaths and Injuries

UPDATE 3/1/20: There have been at least 8 deaths, according to information collected by Stop.Think.Prevent (up from the 6 that I found originally)

We’re not even finished with February yet and there have already been at least 8 trench related deaths and several more injuries across the country:

• 1 killed in New Jersey in February, 35 year old, trapped up to his chest

• 1 killed in Ohio in February, 39 year old, 10 feet trench

• 1 killed in Texas in February, 32 year old, 8 foot trench

• 2 killed in Long Island in January, one 45 and the other 57, installing septic tank

• 1 killed and two others injured in North Carolina in January, 42 year old was killed, gas station project, unknown trench depth

• 1 killed in Washington in January, 24 year old, wind turbine project, unknown trench depth

• 1 killed in In Indiana in January, 56 year old, unknown trench depth

• 1 man in NY lost a toe after a collapse in New York, repairing damaged water line in 7 foot deep trench

• Two were injured in Poughkeepsie, NY and taken to the hospital after 2 hour rescue

Every single one of these tragedies is preventable, but, too often, contractors want to make excuses for not being safe during trench work. As you can see, people of all different ages are susceptible to being affected by trench hazards.

A Simple Guide for Not Getting Someone Killed in a Trench Collapse

Should I get into this trench that isn’t properly sloped, benched, or shored?

No.

Should I send someone else in it?

No.

What if it’s just for a minute?

Still no.

Nothing bad has ever happened to me before…

Don’t care, see all of the examples above.

But we need to get this done today…

Well, start sloping or benching or bring a trench box in.

But it will cost us money…

Better than being dead or killing someone.

That’s it, those are the main basic principles.  Don’t get into an unsupported trench and don’t send someone else into one, no excuses.  Once you get past that step, there are some additional requirements that you should follow to properly protect from cave-in, but the vast majority of these incidents occur on sites that have not made any effort to protect from cave-ins happening.

For more information about how to properly avoid all trenching and excavation hazards, you can check out OSHA’s Trenching and Excavation Safety publications by clicking or tapping here.

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