For the second time in approximately 24 hours, a worker has been injured in a trench collapse in Oakland County.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, the latest incident was reported at around 9:40 a.m. Wednesday from a subdivision under construction in Orion Township. A preliminary investigation indicates a 25-year-old Clarkston man was in a trench box while excavating as a subcontractor for the installation of a sanitary sewer at Squirrel and Silverbell roads when the surrounding ground gave way, trapping him below the waist.
The man sustained injuries to his legs and was transported to McLaren Oakland Hospital by a crew from the Orion Township Fire Department where he was listed in stable condition, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s Search and Rescue Team and the Oakland County Technical Rescue Team were dispatched to the scene but before they arrived coworkers and first responders safely freed the man so the response was canceled, the sheriff’s office said.
A similar incident happened Tuesday morning in Oxford Township, where a 35-year-old Ira Township man was rescued from a collapsed trench buried him while he was working, officials said.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, sheriff’s deputies and Oxford Township firefighters responded to the 3900 block of Barber Road at approximately 9:25 a.m. on a report that a worker was trapped in a collapsed trench. He was extricated and transported to McLaren Oakland Hospital where he is in stable condition and undergoing further evaluation, the sheriff’s office said.
A preliminary investigation indicates workers were installing field tile for a septic system when the man entered the trench to glue pipe together, the sheriff’s office said. A trench wall then collapsed around him.
The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating both incidents, officials said.
Sheriff: Worker rescued after being buried when trench collapses around him
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