How 'Normal' Activities Led to Three Fatal Construction Accidents

Three tragedies that appear to have sprung from routine habits

A Kentucky trench excavation was braced by a trench box, creating a feeling of security, but the trench box was too short. During a collapse, spoil piled at the edge of the trench poured in, killing a 19-yearold laborer, according to a report from the state’s Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program.

PHOTO: KENTUCKY FACE PROGRAM

At these jobsites, sloppy practices seem to have been routine, or normalized, and deadly. A Kentucky trench excavation (above) was braced by a trench box, creating a feeling of security, but the trench box was too short. During a collapse, spoil piled at the edge of the trench poured in, killing a 19-year-old laborer, according to a report from the state’s Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program.

Oregon project
PHOTO: OREGON FACE PROGRAM

At an Oregon project (above), a pile being lifted with a vibratory hammer clamp fell when the clamp suddenly opened, killing the crane operator. Three years earlier, the employer dropped another pile in a similar mishap, but no one was injured, said a report from Oregon’s FACE program.

Half-ton elevator cage section
PHOTO: KENTUCKY FACE PROGRAM

Also in Kentucky, a half-ton elevator cage section (above) fell off a flatbed delivery truck during unloading, killing the truck driver, who was standing in the “fall shadow” during the unloading operation, the state’s FACE program reported.

Deputy Editor Richard Korman helps run ENR's business and legal news and investigations, selects ENR's commentary and oversees editorial content on ENR.com. In 2023 the American Society of Business Publication Editors awarded Richard the Stephen Barr Award, the highest honor for a single feature story or investigation, for his story on the aftermath of a terrible auto crash in Kentucky in 2019, and in 2015 the American Business Media awarded him the Timothy White Award for investigations of surety fraud and workplace bullying. A member of Investigative Reporters and Editors, Richard has been a fellow on drone safety with the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. Richard's freelance writing has appeared in the Seattle Times, the New York Times, Business Week and the websites of The Atlantic and Salon.com. He admires construction projects that finish on time and budget, compensate all team members fairly and record zero fatalities or serious injuries.

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