OSHA Counts 13 Deaths Related to Augers in 20 Years
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is urging contractors to be cautious when using powered augers after an accident investigation led to research showing 13 deaths in two decades. In a recent bulletin, OSHA warns that an auger can become entangled with hidden landscaping fabric or contact utility lines, leading to deaths.
OSHA created the bulletin after officials from the agency’s Wilkes-Barre, Pa. office investigated a fatality at the site of a newly constructed building. A subcontractor had been hired to install a security fence and one post-hole remained to be dug in an area covered with mulch. The operator of the 16-in. auger didn’t inspect the area and didn’t know that landscape fabric had been placed on the ground beneath the mulch.