U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration launched an outreach campaign following dozens of deaths last year in trench or excavation work.
According to an April 10 news release, 39 workers died doing trench or excavation work in the U.S. last year, including four in Illinois and two in Ohio. The outreach program will target OSHA's midwest region, which includes those areas.
"A trench collapse can bury workers under thousands of pounds of soil and rocks in seconds, making escape and survival often impossible," OSHA Region 5 Midwest Regional Administrator Bill Donovan said in the news release. "With proper training and use of required safety procedures, incidents like these can be prevented. OSHA and industry employers are working hard to raise awareness of hazards and protective measures and educate employers on how they must protect workers."
The problem is becoming worse, according to the news release, which reported the number of worker fatalities in trench or excavation work last year was more than double the previous year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 166 workers died in trench cave-ins from 2011 to 2018, an average of 21 each year.
OSHA's outreach campaign in its midwest region aims to work directly with employers, workers, state agencies and industry associations with an eye toward reducing and preventing serious injuries and fatalities in one of the nation's most hazardous industries, the release reported.
The campaign is a collaboration between OSHA and onsite consultation projects across OSHA Region 5, including Illinois On-site Consultation; Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration; INSafe; Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration; Michigan Consultative Services; Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration; Minnesota Workplace Safety Consultation Program; Ohio Bureau of Workers; Compensation On-Site Consultation Program; and Wisconsin On-Site Consultation Program, the release said.
Trenching and excavation industry employers and stakeholders, including the such as National Utility Contractors Association and Wisconsin Utility Contractors Association, also are collaborating in the campaign, according to the release.
The campaign works to educate employers and workers in the industry that they must follow essential trench safety standards, including having protective systems in place for trenches 5-feet deep or deeper, and that the trenches must be inspected daily to identify hazards and soil types, the release said. Excavated soils must be kept at least 2 feet from trench edges while underground utilities must be located and marked before digging begins.
OSHA also has a national emphasis program on preventing trenching and excavation collapses and has developed a series of compliance assistance resources to keep workers safe from these hazards, the release reported.
"By launching this trench and excavation safety campaign as the spring construction season gets into full swing, OSHA and its partners are determined to make sure industry workers finish their daily shifts safely," Donovan added, according to the release.
