Posted byI don’t usually post all the construction fatalities that happen in the US (or the world). Why? There are just too many.
But here is a link to a recent Fox News story about a double fatality cause by a trench collapse.
These don’t have to happen. We know how to stop these fatalities. No new science needs to be invented. Each trench collapse fatality is a needless loss of life.
Here’s a video demonstrating a collapse…
And here’s a trench cave in that occurred while an Oregon OSHA Inspector was filming…
Luckily the man “in-the-hole” was not killed in the second example. But many are not as lucky.
Back in 2003, I wrote an article called “Stop the Sacrifices.” It was an emotional appeal to the construction industry to stop these needless deaths. It caused a lot of controversy.
Perhaps the construction industry has improved since them. I know that some companies have. But others continue to put peoples’ lives at risk by promoting shortcuts (or at least turning a blind-eye to their workers’ taking shortcuts) and not promoting best practices to keep people safe.
If you are responsible for construction work and trenching, take a moment to review what you are doing to keep workers safe. A new sewer line or a broken water pipe isn’t worth someone’s life.
If you would like to learn more about best practices to improve safety, consider attending the 2010 TapRooT® Summit. The Safety & Risk Management Track has these Best Practice Sessions that will give you ideas to improve performance:
Improving Incident Investigation & Safety in the BW Fleet
Communicating with Management About Risk
Ahead of the Law: OSHA Enforcement Problems & Solutions
Using TapRooT® for Regulatory Compliance
How Does Your Corporate Culture Effect Your Investigations?
Advanced Ideas for Corrective Actions
Be a Safety STAR: How a VPPA Program & TapRooT® Can Be Combined for Excellent Safety Performance
Go to the Summit web site to see all the schedules for all the Best Practice Tracks and see which track will help your company’s performance the most.
Category: Accidents, Best Practice Presentations, Current Events, Performance Improvement, Summit
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UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Excellent example of the danger!
Comment by Virgil Pattarino — March 16, 2010 @ 9:25 am
Yet another painful reminder of my 23 year old brother’s death at the bottom of an unprotected trench almost 40 years ago. My brother was born on April 9, 1947 and he died, far too soon, on October 13, 1970. I still remember my father’s exact words when he called me at school to tell me the awful news. And my tough Uncle from Alberta crying like a baby when he brought the body home to Ontario and describing how he could still see all the mud in my brother’s mouth when he identified the body.
Like too many, Alvie had his whole life in front of him and it was needlessly snuffed out in seconds. They say the best get taken too soon. It was certainly true in my brother’s case. He was a first class human being to everyone who knew him, making his death all the more heartbreaking.
Tragic and senseless, I could not agree with you more Mark. And I will tell you from personal experience that those left behind never get over it. My father was dead within two years of my brother. He had lost his first born and I think it broke his heart. I can tell you that it doesn’t take much for me to get motivated to do the work I do.
Mark, I think your article from 2003 is right on target. It needs to get up close and personal for the people in charge and everyone else who can make a difference. When that starts to happen, we’ll start to put a stop to these needless deaths.
Comment by Brian Locker — March 16, 2010 @ 1:42 pm