Debest, Incorporated: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Aug 19, 2020 (fatal): Worker is killed in collapse of excavation walls

At 9:00 a.m. on August 19, 2020, an employee was working as a construction laborer for a landscaping service. He and some coworkers were working in an excavation. They were installing 150-millimeter (6-inch) drain line for an underground utilities project. The excavation had been dug by their foreman, who operated the equipment. The excavation was approximately 8.2 meters (27 feet) in length by 3.7 meters (12 feet) in depth. The angle of repose was approximately 88 to 90 degrees on the north, south, and east sides. Soil conditions consisted of sand mixed with clay and some gravel, with previously excavated material, consisting of varying levels of sand and clay, mixed in at different depths. Fissures developed in the excavation walls as the depth of the excavation increased. The workers did not immediately report the hazardous condition of the excavation walls, as none of them recognized the hazard associated with changing soil conditions. No accident prevention program had been developed or coordinated with the workers. The foreman and equipment operator was working at the jobsite and was in direct and plain view of the workers exposed to the excavation collapse hazard. The near-vertical walls collapsed onto the employee. He suffered multiple severe injuries, and he was asphyxiated by being buried under excavated materials. He was killed. At one place, the account says that he was hospitalized, so he might have died after being removed from the collapse.