Trench collapses are some of the most preventable workplace accidents and result in numerous workers compensation claims. Most of these collapses can simply be prevented by shoring up the walls of the trench, and determining whether the trench is safe to be used before workers are allowed inside.Failure to take these basic steps can be lethal.Workers’ compensation insurance carriers would be wise to perform workplace inspections more frequently and more thoroughly to prevent these accidents.
A worker was killed earlier this week in a trench collapse in Augusta, Georgia.The 37 -year-old worker and another man were in the trench, working on pipes.The trench was about 6-feet deep.According to news reports, water began to seep into the trench, and one wall collapsed.The two men were quickly buried under the sand.Firefighters were able to pull one worker out of the sand, digging frantically with their shovels and hands.However, they could do nothing to reach Augusta-resident Jimmy Roubles, who likely asphyxiated just a few minutes after being buried by the sand.He was declared dead just after noon.The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has been notified about his death.
Recovering Roubles’ body proved to be a challenge to the firefighters, with only one firefighter being allowed into the trench at a time to avoid another collapse.The body was recovered at about 3 PM.That delay in recovering the worker’s body should give Atlanta construction accident lawyers a sense of the instability of the trench.