Whadda think?
We at VentEnterSearch.com understand that many Truck Companies are also tasked with handling Special Operations incidents. So we figured we’d start to include some Special Ops stuff. How many safety issues can you find in this one? -Jimm-
Hmmm… where to begin!! No means of egress, the boards behind the guy in the orange shirt are not shored, only on shore on the other boards, no edge stabilization, and is that the spoil pile to the right about 2 feet from the hole? Not to mention the guy working outside the “safe” area and the guy in jeans on the left in the “I’m ready to slide in” position. I’m sure there is more, but I dont want to be too mean!! This all goes back to knowing your area and what goes on in your area. I know there is a lot of things that go on that no one knows about, but imagine driving by this scene. My comment to the contractor would probably be “how many body bags do you need?” It all goes back to the old saying “People don’t call us because they did something smart!!”
Two words… “Job Security”!!!!
Im not very familiar with trench rescue or anything to do with trenches at that matter but shouldnt these guys be wearing helmets???
Helmets would be a great idea in this situation..
No ladder for egress, shoring not complete,no edge protection, no hard hats,OSHA, where are you?
The guy working isn’t being protected by the shoring.
Wow! An accident waiting to happen! Most of the things wrong in the pic have been addressed. First shore should be 2 ft from the lip of the trench….worker should be placing shore from a working ladder, no egress ladder….worker placing the strut shouldnt be below the shore thats in Place ie his upper body from the waist up should be above the shore. No Edge protection, No backfilling or back shoring behind panels. So many things wrong with this! Like another poster stated ” Job Security “
Oh, and I forgot. Where is the strongback that will give the 4’x 8′ panel its strength?
Stupid!!!!!
All the above observations are good ones. However…
Do we know if this trench has been cleared by an engineer and is safe to enter as is? You cannot forget even though it looks unsafe to us an engineer may have signed off on the trench.
With all do respect,an engineer signing off on the project shouldn’t give a green light to overlook basic safety protection. Just my 2cents.
I agree with 52Capt. the head isnt shored, no ladder, no helmets, 1 shore (no cleats), no back fill, there is probably a backhoe running and operating within 500′, and does anyone know what is in that can?
“Knowledge is the key to wisdom”
That can is a hydraulic fluid reservoir to operate the shoring they are using. We used to have the same system in service in my department, and our operation probably would have looked very similar to this until just recently. The shoring system is like a rabbit tool on steroids.
No Ground pads, No ventalation, No ladder in the hole No air monitoring Outside of the safe area of the Hole To name A few. P.S. Very nice site thank you for the time you put in to put together A very good product.
Your Brother
Barry Floyd
Howard Co MD Tower 10
Special ops
Was the air check for LEL.And a meter to check the air to. And is there a hole watch there. And none of the guys are wearring harness because it is a confined space.
The hydralic shores in this picture can all be set from outside the trench, and are designed to be done as such.
OSHA does not require edge protection, but does require hardhats, and a minimum of 2′ feet for temporary spoil, as pointed out.
This is a training and awareness issue. Stupid people keep us in business.
Well….gentleman this is my first post so be entle on me now. I sed to work for United Rentals Shoring Division and this is something I am very use to.
1st: like Kirby stated, the bucket is the standard 5 gallon shoring pump that uses a non hazardous fluid. It takes 8oz of this fluid with the rest being water.
2nd: We must remember that construction rules and rescue is two differant things. You dont have to have harnesses and air monitoring for your every day typical trench. Yes we are trained to expect the unsuspected & safety is number 1, but construction crews do the very minimal in this aspect. They only look at the bottom dollar, and yes that provides us with job security.
3rd: As far as the shores itself. You only have to have one shore if the ground is a certain type of soil and certain depth. There are type 1 soils…and so forth…I will be lying to you if I could tell you what type this soil would rank as by just looking at the pic. A competent person should be on site to justify what type and how many shores you will need. It also goes by depth as well. And regular shores don’t have “cleats” or plates with gripping teeth on one side. Those are usually only sold to fire departments for rescue.
4th: As far as the wood, this type of wood being used is called “FINFORM”. This wood is stronget then your typical plywood and comes in the standard 3/4″ thickness. This 4×8 sheet weighs aprox. 90lbs. to manuver.It is made of typical plywood mixed with a certain type of fiberglass. This is how it gets its strength. They all “MUST!!!” have a rope handle that is attached to the top side of the board itself. I know that we used plywood from HomeDepot with metal on the corners to help integrity but this FinForm is not required to have it on there. Now SpeedShore, which is the brand of shoring they are using, does have rescue packages to sell to fire departments with FinForm that has 45degree edges and handles cut into them already. But regular FinForm does not require this.
Now as far as problems…..some of the basics are all correct. Such as; the missing ladder, missing head and eye protection, and missing backfill, improper placement of the removed dirt. Those are all basic and yet very true problems. I know that with this scene right here….a lot of contactors would be in a world of hurt with fines in OSHA states.
Now if you are not familiar with this type of product…the Company SPEED SHORE is the leading company in the shoring buisness. I know they have a certain individual that is a leading expert in training fire departments with trench rescue. The company is located in Houston, Tx and also has information on the Web. So look them up and find a little more info about shoring…….
Well….going back and reading my last post I do apologize for the typos and misspellings. But I hope you looked up the company and found out a little about shoring. If you have a United Rentals Shoring Division in your first due….stop by and ask questions. They should be able to answer your questions. Thanks again for the oppurtunity to speak….stay safe guys…
i can find a lot of things no ladder in hole gas can at top no wood around the top floor everyone working in the hole no support set up in the hole to many people near it no safety line either anyway but if u look up in the response service for firemen and they talk about up trench rescue and collaspe
No PPE, shoring isn’t complete, no egress ladders, no ground pads, spoil pile is too close, guy in the blue isn’t even protected by anything!! Plus they are both working under the one shore. Last no strong backs. There are alot more but there are some. Be safe out there.
Deadmen working 🙁
Same scenerio took out a FF’s knee years back.
I had a simlar question at a recent class I attended. I asked a member of FDNY R3 If Fin Forms needed strongbacks. He stated no that is why you bought FinForms in the first place. I have not been able to locate the Fin Form website to confirm, any thoughts?
Doesn’t OSHA have a regulation on trench depth as well? I’m not a trench rescue guy but its my understanding that a trench shouldn’t be more than 5 feet deep.
OSHA, they do have regulations regarding trench depth: “Trenches 5 feet (1.5 meters) deep or greater
require a protective system unless the excavation
is made entirely in stable rock.” …sad, I know right?
I see this all the time! Yes, I’m almost on a first name basis with our local OSHA guys.
Problems in picture:
1.) untrained workers (obvious)
2.) walls not properly retained
3.) excavated soil less than 2′ from opening
4.) no monitoring equipment
5.) worker not protected
6.) worker on collapse zone
7.) no means of egress
8.) no PPE (we ALL know what that means
9.) inverted trenching
10.) no one stopped them