Shoring Violations

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (Oregon OSHA) has fined TC Excavating LLC $142,800 for five violations, including two willful violations. The citation was based on an investigation of a trench that collapsed and killed an employee”. This was the head tile of the accident which revealed the responsible company was not pursuing the precautionary necessary steps during an excavation for either a sewer line or manhole was undergoing. OSHA defines an excavation as “any man-made cut (cavity) or depression in the earth's surface formed by earth removal and a trench as a narrow underground excavation that is deeper than it is wide, and no wider than 15 ft. at the bottom” (“Occupational safety and health administration,” 2013). However,
Therefore, jobsite study, observations, test boring for soil type will provide an essential information to determine the amount, kind, and the cost of safety equipment needed to execute the work in the safest manner possibly as a general manner. Specifically, in this case of study, shoring requirement was more likely dependable on the width and depth of the trench. The accident was avoidable if the company employee did follow the shoring system element in the table (7.2 & 7.1)
deep, thus according to the table 7.2 for unstable soil, the choice is either 4’ or 2’ for the uprights horizontal spacing (uprights may be a solid “sheeting” or spaced from 2’ to 8’ apart to prevent cave-ins), as well as cross braces is either 4’ or 2’ for screw jacks of 2” STD or timbers of (6” x 6”) to hold either horizontal or vertical shoring members in place. Refer to the side table 7.1 and assume the width between (6”-8”) for house line, since it was not reported in the result investigation. However, the minimum number of the horizontal cross braces, either screw jacks or timbers, required for each pair of uprights shall be determined by the number of 4-foot zones or segment into which the depth of the trench may be divided, yet in no case shall be less than two cross braces or jacks. Further, pre planning will reduce the chance of an accident and protect people nearby work site and maintenance operator from falling into the excavation, and it will protect them from possible exposure of atmospheric hazards in the excavation as well (such as leaking gas lines or storage tanks) and define how maintenance operator will get in and out of the excavation safely. An excavation with a depth of 4 ft. or more must have a means for entering and exiting such as a stairway, ladder, or ramp that has a non-slip surfaces employees’ safety may depend on how