“A Trench is a Trench is a Trench” An employee of a cemetery in Farmingdale, New York, was seriously injured on May 7, 2015, when the walls of the grave opening in which he was working collapsed and buried him up to his waist.
OSHA reports that two workers are killed every month in trench collapses. Just recently, OSHA cited two contractors following a trench collapse that buried 22-year-old laborer Carlos Moncayo beneath tons of soil and debris at a Manhattan construction site. OSHA found that Moncayo’s death could have been prevented if the general contractor and subcontractor had...
One minute a worker was working in the 8-foot trench below ground. The next, he was being buried in it. His co-workers came to his rescue, digging him out with their bare hands. Moments after they pulled the injured man to safety, the unprotected trench collapsed again. His injuries were serious and led to his...
Here’s another reminder of how quickly a trench can turn deadly and how important it is to be prepared. Is your rescue team prepared for such an incident? When firefighters arrived at the scene of a construction trench collapse near Covington (Louisiana) back in May, they could see two pairs of feet sticking out of...
In response to the death of a 23-year-old construction worker in a trenching incident in Anchorage, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development is highlighting the importance of training workers on safe trench work and excavations. State regulations require employers to ensure workers are trained to recognize and avoid hazards related to any trench...
In January 2004, an explosion at the West Pharmaceutical Company in Kingston, NC killed 6 workers and injured 34 others. Two firefighters were injured during the response to the incident. One month later, an explosion and fire occurred at the CTA Acoustics manufacturing facility in Corbin, KY, killing 7 workers. In February 2008, an explosion...
Since 1999, Roco has had the opportunity to train and equip rescue teams in Kuwait. The first team that we trained was the Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation (KNPC) Fire Officers that were assigned to three refineries located south of Kuwait City. In 2001, Ratqa Contracting was tasked with providing a Technical Rescue Team at the...
Roco Director of Training/Chief Instructor, Dennis O’Connell reviews the importance of following OSHA safety standards for confined space entry, no matter how many times workers have entered the space. The take away? With confined spaces…It’s NEVER old hat! The importance of preplanning confined space entries and identifying “potential hazards “should be old hat by now....
(An updated review of more recent data is available at Confined space Fatalities…an updated look at the numbers) At some point during just about every Roco CSRT Rescue Stand-By job, someone will ask us why we are there. After we tell them that we’re there to make sure all the workers go home safely (and...
Here’s a follow up to a Confined Space Fatality story we published earlier this year. One of the injured persons (a “would be” rescuer and co-worker of the initial victim) remains hospitalized since January. According to a Cal/OSHA Chief, “it is unfortunately common for other employees to be injured or killed while attempting impromptu rescue...
