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A contractor died after a mountain of soil collapsed on him in a trench on Sept. 12. The incident occurred at the Imlay Place Condos on Almont Avenue north of Newark Road in Imlay City, Michigan. According to ABC 12, the Imlay City Fire Department responded to the call around 12:55 p.m. According to fire officials at the scene, fire crews were able to remove the worker from the earth at 1:15 p.m., and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators haven’t indicated what the worker was doing at the time of the trench collapse. The worker was not identified by name, but his family has been notified of his death. The contractor was a local man some first responders knew. Investigators stayed on the scene for several hours after the incident. At the time of the accident, an excavator was working in the area.
About 25 workers each year are killed by trench-related accidents, with cave-ins accounting for about three-fourths of them, according to the Laborers’ Health & Safety Fund of North America. Seventy-two percent of trench fatalities occurred in those less than nine feet deep. In 2017, 5,147 workers died in workplace-related incidents, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration reports. Over one-fifth of all workplace fatalities are in construction. In 2017, 971 construction workers, or 18 per week, died in a workplace-related accident. If a loved one was killed in a workplace accident, you may be entitled to compensation for funeral costs and more. Contact Morgan & Morgan for a free consultation to discuss your options.