Deaths Due to Unsafe Spoil-Pile Placements
Case Reports
The following Case
Reports of trenching accidents investigated by OSHA illustrate how seemingly
innocent workplace activities can have deadly consequences.
- A spoil-pile
had been placed on top of a curb which formed the west face of a trench.
A backhoe was spotted on top of the spoil-pile. The west face of the
trench collapsed on two employees who were installing sewer pipe. One
employee was killed; the other received back injuries. The trench was
8 feet deep with vertical walls. No other protection was provided.
The superimposed loads of the spoil-pile and backhoe may have caused the collapse.
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