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I
recently had the pleasure of speaking to a group of approximately
60 excavation contractors about the requirements of OSHA's Excavations
Standard. During my presentation, I mentioned that in my job as
an OSHA compliance officer, I have often encountered good folks
who are members of what I characterize as the "IB Club" (otherwise
known as the "I've Been Club"). The members of the club are generally
"IB-10s," IB-20s," and "IB-30s." The "IB-10s" frequently begin
conversations with me about trenching safety by saying, "Well,
I've been doing trenching this way for 10 years, and I've never
been involved in a trench collapse." (For the "IB-20s" and the
"IB-30s," just change the number of years.) I tell them that regardless
of how long a contractor has been working in an unsafe manner
without an accident, it only takes once. It only takes one un-sloped
or improperly sloped excavation. It only takes one un-shored or
improperly shored excavation. A lack of inspection by a competent
person, one time, can result in a tragedy that totally wipes out
the record of an "IB-30."
After the speech, while the attendees were leaving and
I was packing away my presentation materials, a seasoned citizen
came forward to talk. He referenced my "IB Club" comment this
way: "I am a retired IB-50." After I congratulated him on his
long working career, he went on to tell me that although he had
been involved in a number of cave-ins, he was particularly proud
of the fact that he had never had a fatality, though he had people
buried up to their necks. He stated, "When I saw a cave-in about
to happen, I shouted to the workers in the trench, 'Stand up!'"
At that point I realized I hadn't gotten through at all
to this gentleman. He was expressing his pride in his trenching
techniques, but what I saw was a fellow who did not follow the
basic, minimal safety requirements for excavations. Somehow, he
had missed my point that an unprotected excavation can collapse
at any time without warning.
Could it be, after listening to my presentation for an
hour, he didn't hear that the fatality
rate for excavation work is 112% higher than the rate for general
construction? Is it possible he didn't understand that excavating
is recognized as one of the most hazardous construction operations
and that OSHA standards require a designated competent person
to examine excavations into which employees enter? Could it be
he didn't grasp the key areas of my presentation? That the competent
person must conduct an inspection of excavations, the adjacent
areas, and protective systems prior to the start of work and as
needed throughout the shift, especially after every rainstorm
or other hazard-increasing occurrences? That if the excavation
is deeper than 5 feet, employees must be protected from
cave-in? That proper sloping, shoring, and shielding, as required
by OSHA standards, can prevent most trenching accidents? That
soil weighs approximately 100 pounds per cubic foot and
that when it surrounds and compresses a victim's chest, breathing
becomes impossible, potentially leading to death in four to six
minutes? That a cubic yard of dirt contains 27 cubic feet and
weighs more than 1.25 tons? That in most cases, cave-ins involve
many cubic yards of soil and require hours of digging, usually
all by hand? How, in construction accidents involving backhoes,
victims are usually disemboweled or decapitated?
I
made it clear to him that ordering employees to stand up is not
a method of protecting employees from cave-ins and that human beings
cannot sense when a cave-in is about to happen—there is no
audible or olfactory indication that dirt is about to move. I emphasized
that an employee can't outrun a collapsing excavation wall; that
soil falling just 10 feet is moving at 25 feet per second, far faster
than he or I could ever have moved in our youth; that other potentially
fatal hazards exist, including asphyxiation due to lack of oxygen
in a confined space, inhalation of toxic fumes, or drowning; that
electrocution or explosions can occur when workers contact underground
utilities.
I
told him about the inauspicious
"club" to which I belong. The somber members of this unpropitious
group are the OSHA compliance officers who have conducted excavation
accident and fatality investigations. This group of people investigates
the approximately 40 worker fatalities that occur nationwide each
year, and these 40 represent only the excavation fatalities that
are reported to OSHA or that OSHA is otherwise made aware of each
year.
While
leaving, I smiled and shook his hand. Again, he said he had never
killed anyone. He had just sat through an approximately one-hour-long
discussion on trenching and excavation safety, where I had already
covered all of these things. Even though I really tried, I don't
think I got through to this man at all.
Maybe,
just maybe, I can get through to you. Please do not be like this
man. Do not rely on luck or superstition to protect your employees.
If you have any questions about following the OSHA requirements
for trenching and excavations, free, friendly assistance is just
as close as your local OSHA office.
Please,
do not be an "IB Club" member. The dues are far too high.
Robert
Mercer, CSP, CSHM, is a compliance officer with the US Department
of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration with
28 years of federal service.
GEC
- September/October 2004
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