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Case No.78

Fall into a hole excavated by earth auger


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[Description of the Accident]

This accident involves a fall into a hole excavated by earth auger during work to reinforce a sloped embankment along a road.

The work included sinking 69 H-shaped steel piles along a 100-m stretch of the embankment, exposing one side of the piles and laying horizontal lagging between them.

The planned procedures for the day of the accident included excavating holes (0.7 m in diameter, about 15 m in depth at 3-m intervals) by using an earth auger, filling the holes with concrete, inserting the H-shaped steel piles, and backfilling the surface.

A meeting was held at the site prior to the start of work. At about 12:00, the excavation of two holes had been completed. In order to confirm the depth, an employee of the general contractor who was responsible for taking the measurements was using a measuring device to mark off the depth.

The coworker assigned to help with the measurements was holding a rod to the screw of the auger, while the victim was spray marking the length. When the employee of the general contractor looked around after completing the measurements, he could not find the victim who had been located near the screw of the auger and started to look for him. He found the victim had fallen into a hole (15 m in depth).


[Presumed causes]

1. Work instructions were not clear.

2. The hole excavated by the earth auger was deep, and the adjacent surface area was prone to collapse. However, no measures to prevent falls, such as a cover, enclosure, etc., had been taken.


[Type of business] Road construction work
[Causal object] Excavation work
[Type of accident] Fall
[Number of victims] One fatality
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