Construction accidents on the work site are often serious or fatal for the construction worker, and the construction industry has earned its well-deserved reputation as one of the most dangerous and deadly places to work in Indiana, Illinois, and the rest of this country. In 2019, fatal construction site accidents were the cause of one in five of the total worker deaths in this country.
The risks that construction workers face of a severe bodily injury in an on-the-job accident are varied: many potentially deadly dangers are present on any construction site. However, over the years, research has revealed four categories of work site risk known to cause a majority of worker deaths and permanent harm. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) calls them the “Fatal Four” or the “Focus Four” hazards of the construction industry:
- Falls;
- Struck-by;
- Electrocution; and
- Caught in-between.
We have warned about the first three on this list before. For more on these “Fatal Four” types of construction accidents before, read:
- Deadly Construction Accidents: Falls Remain a Leading Cause of Death for Construction Workers
- Fatal Construction Work Accident: Injuries from Being Struck By Object
- Electrical Injuries and Electrocution Accidents on the Construction Site.
What is a “Caught In-Between” Hazard on a Construction Site?
For some, the two categories of “struck-by” and “caught in-between” incidents can be confusing; OSHA explains that the distinction between these two types of accidents is whether or not the impact of the object upon the victim’s body was the sole cause of his or her injury. If so, then it is considered a “struck-by” accident. It is when the victim is hurt as a result of being crushed between two or more objects that the accident is labelled as a “caught in-between” incident. See, Construction Focus Four: Caught-In or -Between Hazards, Instructor Guide, published by OSHA Training Institute in April 2011 (“Instructor Guide”).
OSHA has defined a “caught-in or -between hazard” as:
Injuries resulting from a person being squeezed, caught, crushed, pinched, or compressed between two or more objects, or between parts of an object. This includes individuals who get caught or crushed in operating equipment, between other mashing objects, between a moving and stationary object, or between two or more moving objects.
Common Types of Caught In-Between Accidents on Construction Sites
Construction workers risk serious or fatal injuries in accidents classified as Caught In-Between that include:
1] Cave-ins (trenching);
2] Being pulled into or caught in machinery and equipment (this includes strangulation as the result of clothing caught in running machinery and equipment); and
3] Being compressed or crushed between rolling, sliding, or shifting objects such as semi-trailers and a dock wall, or between a truck frame and a hydraulic bed that is lowering.
Examples of Construction Worker Caught In-Between Accidents on the Construction Site
In handouts to accompany safety training, OSHA provides the following examples of Caught In-Between accidents on the construction site that have proven fatal to the construction worker:
1] Ironworker: A laborer was steam cleaning a scraper. The bowl apron had been left in the raised position. The hydraulically controlled apron had not been blocked to prevent it from accidently falling. The apron did fall unexpectedly and the employee was caught between the apron and the cutting edge of the scraper bowl. The apron weighted approximately 2500 pounds.
2] Pipe Welder: Four employees were boring a hole and pushing a 20-inch pipe casing under a road. The employees were in an excavation approximately 9 feet wide, 32 feet long and 7 feet deep. Steel plates 8′ × 15′ × ¾”, being used as shoring, were placed vertically against the north and south walls of the excavation at approximately a 30-degree angle. There were no horizontal braces between the steel plates. The steel plate on the south wall tipped over, pinning an employee (who was killed) between the steel plate and the pipe casing. At the time the plate tipped over, a backhoe was being operated adjacent to the excavation.
3] Truck Driver: A truck driver was crushed and killed between the frame and dump box of a dump truck. Apparently, a safety “over-travel” cable attached between the truck frame and the dump box malfunctioned by catching on a protruding nut of an air brake cylinder. This prevented the dump box from being fully raised, halting its progress at a point where about 20 inches of space remained between it and the truck frame. The employee, apparently assuming that releasing the cable would allow the dump box to continue up-ward, reached between the rear dual wheels and over the frame, and disengaged the cable with his right hand. The dump box then dropped suddenly, crushing his head. The employee had not received training or instruction in proper operating procedures and was not made aware of all potential hazards in his work.
4] Boring Machine Operator: A three-man crew was installing an underground telephone cable in a residential area. They had just completed a bore hole under a driveway using a horizontal boring machine. The bore hole rod had been removed from the hole. While the rod was still rotating, the operator straddled it and stooped over to pick it up. His trouser leg became entangled in the rotating rod and he was flipped over. He struck tools and materials, sustaining fatal injuries.
5] Laborer: An employee was installing a small diameter pipe in a trench 3 feet wide, 12-15 feet deep and 90 feet long. The trench was not shored or sloped nor was there a box or shield to protect the employee. Further, there was evidence of a previous cave-in. The employee apparently reentered the trench, and a second cave-in occurred, burying him. He was found face down m the bottom of the trench.
6] Pipe Layer: Employees were laying sewer pipe in a trench 15 feet deep. The sides of the trench, 4 feet wide at the bottom and 15 feet wide at the top, were not shored or protected to prevent a cave-in. Soil in the lower portion of the trench was mostly sand and gravel and the upper portion was clay and loam*. The trench was not protected from vibration caused by heavy vehicle traffic on the road nearby. To leave the trench, employees had to exit by climbing over the backfill. As they attempted to leave the trench, there was a small cave-in covering one employee to his ankles. When the other employee went to his co-worker’s aid another cave-in occurred covering him to his waist. The first employee died of a rupture of the right ventricle of his heart at the scene of the cave-in. The other employee suffered a hip injury.
7] Equipment Operator: An employee was driving a front-end loader up a dirt ramp onto a lowboy trailer. The tractor tread began to slide off the trailer. As the tractor began to tip, the operator, who was not wearing a seat belt, jumped from the cab. As he hit the ground, the tractor’s rollover protective structure fell on top of him, crushing him.
8] Truck Driver: The contractor was operating a backhoe when an employee attempted to walk between the swinging superstructure of the backhoe and a concrete wall. As the employee approached the backhoe from the operator’s blind side, the superstructure hit the victim crushing him against the wall.
9] Laborer: An employee was working in a trench 4 feet wide and 7 feet deep. About 30 feet away a backhoe was straddling the trench when the backhoe operator noticed a large chunk of dirt falling from the side wall behind the worker in the trench, he called out a warning. Before the worker could climb out, 6 to 8 feet of the trench wall had collapsed on him and covered his body up to his neck. He suffocated before the backhoe operator could dig him out. There were no exit ladders. No sloping, shoring or other protective system had been used in the trench.
10] Laborer: Two laborers and a fork lift driver were staking 40-foot-long I-beams in preparation for structural steel erection. One laborer was placing a 2 X 4-inch wooden spacer on the last I-beam on the stack. The fork lift driver drove up to the stack with another I-beam that was not secured or blocked on the fork lift tines. The I-beam fell from the tines, pining the laborer between the fallen I beam and the stack of beams.
Justice for Construction Workers Killed or Severely Injured in a Caught In-Between Accident
Anyone working on a construction site, whether it is residential or commercial, can be the victim of an accident involving a caught in-between incident. From the newbie laborer on the work site to the most experienced craftsman, these accidents are a threat facing every construction worker here in Indiana or Illinois.
For instance, in the above list of fatal Caught In-Between Accidents, the Ironworker was only 22 years old and had been at work for only three hours on his first day on the site when the deadly accident occurred. Compare that to the Pipe Welder who was 62 years old and had 18 years of experience in pipe work when he perished after being pinned between a steel plate and pipe casing on a road construction site.
Construction workers who suffer bodily harm in a Caught In-Between Accident may have avenues for justice under the state laws of Indiana and Illinois as well as federal law in some circumstances. Their loved ones may also have claims to pursue for the harm they have suffered as a result of the construction site tragedy.
Each of these worker accidents deserves individual investigation and respect. It is possible that more than one party may be legally liable for the incident and its consequences. Both Indiana and Illinois laws offer the possibility of (1) workers’ compensation; (2) wrongful death; (3) personal injury – negligence; and/or (4) product liability (defective products) for victims of construction site caught in-between accident injuries, depending upon the particular facts surrounding the fatal event.
For more on construction accidents, see:
- Construction Worker Injury Behavior Study: Higher Risk of Accident
- New Construction Worker Safety Report: 43% Jump in Road Construction Worker Deaths
- The Construction Workers’ Viewpoint: Work Site Safety and Suicide Rates
- Legal Protection for Construction Workers from High Risk and Danger of Serious Injury or Death on the Job.
For all who work construction in Indiana and Illinois, the danger of a serious or deadly injury on the job is very high. Please be careful out there!
