Lessons from the Field – a Fall that Could Have Been Prevented | Excavation Safety — Transcript

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1. 0:11In March 2022, the new employee began
2. 0:14working at the company and completed the
3. 0:16site safety orientation, health and
4. 0:18safety orientation, and an online ground
5. 0:21disturbance awareness course on the
6. 0:23first morning.
7. 0:25The new worker was then given a tour of
8. 0:26the work site and introduced to the
9. 0:28tasks at hand. The superintendent
10. 0:31instructed them to observe and learn
11. 0:33from the other workers over the next few
12. 0:35days, during which they would also
13. 0:37explain the hazards and potential pinch
14. 0:39points. The other worker told him the
15. 0:41most important thing was to always watch
16. 0:43for open holes and to make sure they
17. 0:46were covered and had barricades around
18. 0:47them. The hazards of falling into open
19. 0:50holes or excavations were addressed in
20. 0:52several of the company's safety
21. 0:54documents. However, there were varying
22. 0:57procedures followed at the site for
23. 0:59protecting workers from open holes.
24. 1:02Utilize hole barricades on holes 24 in
25. 1:05or larger in diameter. Unattended open
26. 1:08holes to be covered and marked open hole
27. 1:10to prevent falls while drilling piles to
28. 1:13depth. Ensure barricades and warning
29. 1:16signs are in place to prevent property
30. 1:18damage while pouring concrete and
31. 1:20removing casings.
32. 1:22The project hazard assessment in the
33. 1:24company's work site safety plan
34. 1:27identifies open excavations as a
35. 1:29potential hazard associated with
36. 1:31drilling. To mitigate this risk, the
37. 1:34plan requires the installation of guard
38. 1:36rails with the additional precaution
39. 1:37that fall protection must be worn if the
40. 1:40guardrail needs to be removed for any
41. 1:42operation. The guardrails or handrails
42. 1:45section of the company's work site
43. 1:47safety plan states the following. One,
44. 1:50OS legislation compliant guard rails are
45. 1:53to be used with excavations.
46. 1:56Two, all openings must be barricaded and
47. 1:58be covered with reinforced plywood.
48. 2:01Three, workers must never leave an
49. 2:04opening unattended.
50. 2:06Field level hazard assessments completed
51. 2:08by site workers and initialed by the new
52. 2:10worker a few days prior to the incident
53. 2:13identify open hole as a hazard and stay
54. 2:16behind the hole barricade as the
55. 2:18control.
56. 2:21The driller also completed and signed a
57. 2:23foreman safety meeting record on the day
58. 2:25of the incident 5 hours after the
59. 2:27incident. The document lists, "Put
60. 2:31plywood down to cover holes as both a
61. 2:33task to be done and a hazard control."
62. 2:36The rest of the crew, including the new
63. 2:38worker, are shown as having either
64. 2:40signed or initialed the document between
65. 2:4212:32 p.m. and 12:38 p.m., approximately
66. 2:465 hours after the incident.
67. 2:49On the day of the incident, the employee
68. 2:51arrived at work at approximately 7 a.m.
69. 2:54and was assigned to assist an employee
70. 2:56driller. This was their first time
71. 2:58working together. The new employee was
72. 3:01replacing the laborer who was not at
73. 3:03work that day and was usually assigned
74. 3:05to the driller. This was the new
75. 3:07employees sixth day of work for the
76. 3:09company. While it was standard practice
77. 3:12for the workers to have a safety meeting
78. 3:13first thing in the morning, they did not
79. 3:15have one the morning of the incident.
80. 3:18The new worker opened the CCAN and began
81. 3:20removing materials. He then went to see
82. 3:23the other driller to get some diesel
83. 3:24exhaust fluid for his coworker's drill
84. 3:26rig. The driller then moved the rig from
85. 3:30over top of the hole where he had parked
86. 3:32it when they finished work the previous
87. 3:33Friday and went to get the skid steer to
88. 3:36remove the plywood and backfill the
89. 3:38hole. This exposed the plywood covering
90. 3:41the hole. The driller says as he was
91. 3:43walking to the skid steer, he told the
92. 3:45new worker to watch out for holes. The
93. 3:48driller says the new worker had no tasks
94. 3:50assigned to him that morning, and he
95. 3:52does not know why they went to lift the
96. 3:54plywood.
97. 3:55The company states that there was only
98. 3:57one open hole on site, being the one
99. 4:00with the parked over top of it. No new
100. 4:03holes had been drilled that morning. The
101. 4:06new worker said the driller asked him to
102. 4:07get a piece of wood to cover a newly
103. 4:09drilled hole. He saw the piece of
104. 4:12plywood laying on the ground and says he
105. 4:14did not realize it was covering an open
106. 4:16hole. there was no barrier around it and
107. 4:19nothing on top of it. He says there was
108. 4:21a light layer of snow on the ground and
109. 4:24the plywood and that he could not see
110. 4:26the orange paint on it. The new worker
111. 4:29was present when they dug the hole on
112. 4:30Friday, but by Monday he had forgotten
113. 4:33about it. He says that since he was not
114. 4:36operating the skid steer, he did not
115. 4:38know which holes were filled in on
116. 4:39Friday. He would have known the hole was
117. 4:42there if it had a barricade around it or
118. 4:44something on top of the plywood.
119. 4:47The new worker bent down and grabbed the
120. 4:49plywood with both hands. And as he stood
121. 4:51up, he took a step forward and fell into
122. 4:53the hole.
123. 4:56He landed on the rebar cage and concrete
124. 4:58pile 7 m below. EMS was called and
125. 5:02arrived within 10 or 15 minutes. They
126. 5:04lowered a harness to the employee and
127. 5:06pulled him out of the hole. He was
128. 5:08transported to the hospital by ambulance
129. 5:10within 30 or 40 minutes of his fall. The
130. 5:14employee suffered permanent lifealtering
131. 5:16injuries. He also suffers related mental
132. 5:19health issues. He spent several weeks in
133. 5:22the hospital and is still receiving
134. 5:23regular medical care. He is in constant
135. 5:26pain and his prognosis is uncertain as
136. 5:29it relates to his ability to work in the
137. 5:31future.
138. 5:32A few days after the incident, the
139. 5:35company revised its pile and
140. 5:36foundational drilling procedure to
141. 5:38include the following rules among
142. 5:40others.
143. 5:41No one should come within 1.8 m 6 ft of
144. 5:45a hole's edge during or after drilling
145. 5:48unless they are directly involved in the
146. 5:49operation. Workers involved must also
147. 5:52stay 1.8 m away from the edge of a
148. 5:55drilled hole or queson unless it has a
149. 5:58liner extending at least 1 meter above
150. 6:00the ground. If the liner is not present,
151. 6:03workers must be protected from falling
152. 6:05by using a fall protection system or a
153. 6:07guardrail around the hole. Fall
154. 6:09protection systems shall be anchored to
155. 6:11a Lego block and be used as fall
156. 6:14restriction systems. This will apply for
157. 6:16holes that are larger than 30 in in
158. 6:19diameter. A retractable lanyard will be
159. 6:22used with the anchor placed at a
160. 6:23distance that does not allow for a fall
161. 6:25into an open hole to occur. Holes that
162. 6:28are 30 in or greater and cannot be
163. 6:30backfilled immediately will have a 5tx 5
164. 6:33ft/2in steel plate placed over the open
165. 6:36hole. If the hole is greater than 46 in,
166. 6:40the plate will be adjusted to ensure 1
167. 6:42ft of overlap.
168. 6:44Prior to removal, guardrails will be
169. 6:46placed around the hole. A skid steer
170. 6:49will remove the plate with a spotter 7
171. 6:51ft away from the hole to ensure that
172. 6:53during the backfill process, no one
173. 6:55comes into the work zone.
174. 6:58We have put together a set of
175. 6:59thought-provoking questions to enhance
176. 7:02your learning experience.
177. 7:04What engineering controls could have
178. 7:06prevented this?
179. 7:10What types of communication strategies
180. 7:12could help outline clear expectations to
181. 7:15reduce assumptions and to support new
182. 7:17and all types of workers?
183. 7:21Would completing a daily fieldle hazard
184. 7:23assessment have raised more awareness?