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**havasu** · 03-15-2013, 03:52 AM

Please tell me you were not working in Pacific Palisades today?

PACIFIC PALISADES, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Rescue crews worked to free two workers from a trench at a construction site Thursday afternoon.

The workers became stuck in a deep trench on the 200 block of Temescal Canyon Road near Pacific Coast Highway.

One worker was pulled from the trench at about 3 p.m. The second worker had been unconscious in grave condition in the hole, then died, the Los Angeles City Fire Department said.

Fire department personnel was called to the scene at about 1:40 p.m.

The rescued worker was airlifted to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in serious condition.

The recovery of the body was expected to take hours.

Chris · 03-15-2013, 05:13 AM

Not me or my company. That is one jacked up looking trench, wonder why they left a two foot section in the middle instead of making a large hole.

These are my nightmares everyday I go to work.

Chris · 03-15-2013, 05:20 AM

Every time I here of one of these I wonder if I knew the guy.

Austin · 03-15-2013, 02:26 PM

I didn't realize getting trapped was a risk of your profession. That sucks.

**havasu** · 03-15-2013, 02:35 PM

Trench collapsing seems to occur about 3-4 times a year in my neck of the woods. They also seem to be "breaking news" on most local television channels.

Chris · 03-15-2013, 02:57 PM

It happens more then you think. We here about a new one all the time, most don't get reported to the media.

Yes Austin it is one of the bigger fears of this line of work. Especially when you go as deep as I do on a regular basis. The earth just likes to heal itself when you poke holes in it.

Chris · 03-15-2013, 02:57 PM

From that picture it looks like they are using a vac truck to suck the dirt out from around the guy.

Austin · 03-18-2013, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris

It happens more then you think. We here about a new one all the time, most don't get reported to the media.

Yes Austin it is one of the bigger fears of this line of work. Especially when you go as deep as I do on a regular basis. The earth just likes to heal itself when you poke holes in it.

I didn't know that. We never hear about it on our area.

Chris · 03-19-2013, 02:46 AM

I am going down 18' next week to do a sewer tie in, in the middle of an intersection. That should be fun.

**Caduceus** · 03-19-2013, 03:43 AM

When I started in new construction, things were very relaxed when it came to trench work. Plenty of room to bench the trenches, but until I took a class in safety, I didn't realize how badly we had cut corners.
Then I had the bottom of a deep trench heave up from water build-up underneath and suddenly found myself up to my mid-thigh in muck. Pinned in, I hollered for help and the operator lowered the bucket. I grabbed on, panicked and squeezing with all I had. My pants and boots were pulled off, but I was out. Loose lacing saved my butt.
With benching and shoring I have had about 10 occurrences in 13 years, none with serious injury. I am even more aware of safety, but mother nature is unpredictable and a collapse doesn't happen in a second...it happens in a moment.
Materials on the job site can also pose a hazard. I was knocked out by a 20 foot length of 4" solid-core that an apprentice had set vertically IN the ditch instead of horizontally next to the ditch. I didn't know it was there and the wind blew it over and it dropped like a guillotine down to my head. Hard hats are great, but I was still out and laying in the ditch for several minutes before being pulled out. Human error is also a factor.
Anyways, y'all be safe in those ditches, ya hear!