Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-1996

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Civil Engineering

Major Professor

James H. Deatherage

Abstract

Excavation cave-ins in the construction industry have historically injured and killed workers throughout the nation. In 1990 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) excavation standards were completely revised in response to years of controversy over the ambiguities in the earlier standards. The primary purpose for this study was to evaluate the historical data for excavation cave-in accidents over the period from 1985 through 1994 and determine if there is evidence that the 1990 revisions to the regulations have had a positive impact on reducing accidents. OSHA data from the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) were utilized to obtain 540 reports on excavation cave-ins for a ten-year period from 1985 through 1994. These data were evaluated against various criteria to identify factors that influenced any trends in the data. A review of various other resources on cave-in accidents, training, and inspections were consulted to obtain a broader perspective on the causes and prevention of cave-ins. Most cave-in accidents continued to occur in small companies, usually in relatively shallow trenches while installing pipelines. The primary cause of cave-in accidents continued to be the lack of employing any type of protective system. The incident rate of excavation cave-ins decreased over the ten-year period. The five-year period since the revisions to the regulations in 1990 showed a notable decrease in accident rates compared to the previous five years. Penalties for citations during the latter five years were significantly higher than for the prior five years.

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