Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1504762.015 - Ohio Valley Excavating Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Columbus Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 9:30 a.m. on December 1, 2020, an employee working as a heavy equipment operator for an excavation contractor was working on a crew preparing to disassemble a Speed Shore U-16-855-S steel trench shield. The crew consisted of the employee and three coworkers who were in the process of disassembling the trench shield. The trench shield measured 8-foot by 20-foot and was equipped with 14-foot spreader bars. The crew attempted to pull the box apart horizontally with an excavator on each side shield. The ground was icy and snow-covered at the time. Coworker #1 and Coworker #2 removed the pins from each spreader bar connection socket. As Coworker #3 held an excavator bucket on one of the side shields, the employee, who was operating the excavator, reached over the top of the second side shield and began to pull the shield toward the excavator. The shield remained unsupported and fell backward to the ground. As the shield fell, one of the spreader bars remained seated on the shield's socket. The falling action of the shield rotated the spreader bar into the cab of the excavator striking the employee in the leg. The employee was hospitalized to treat a fractured and lacerated leg.

Keywords: Blunt force, Blunt force trauma, Commercial Building, Construction, Construction vehicle, Disassemble, Equipment Operator, Excavation, Excavator, Fracture, Inexperience, Insufficient Supervision, Laceration, Lack of Work Procedures, Leg, Material Handling, Safety Device, Struck By, Trench, Trench Box, Weather, Wrong Equipment