Construction Site Safety – Trench boxes stop collapsing trenches from trapping workers

Steve Lombardi

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 335

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On October 22, 2008 a 20-year-old man from Lenox, Mass. was working at a construction site occupying an excavated trench. No trench box was being used and the 8 foot deep, 2 to 3 foot wide trench he was standing in collapsed onto him, burying him and causing him to suffocate to death. The side of the trench that caved in on him was sand and clay. The trench was designed to be where drain pipes would be laid for someone’s home. Although the construction owner had a good safety record and cared very much for his workers, his caring mattered little when this 20-year-old died on that job site.

Question: So how could this tragedy have been avoided?

Answer: A trench box.

A trench box would have prevented this accident. OSHA requires use of a trench box in this instance. Here is what 29 CFR 1926.652 states regarding protecting workers in excavations.

Simply put any employee working five feet or more below grade in an excavated area must be protected by a shielding system that prevents exactly what occurred in this case; a cave in that traps the construction worker.