Queens worker trapped waist-deep when trench beside a prewar building collapses

The 911 call came in at 4:21 p.m., QNS reported. In all, 162 FDNY members (28 fire units, 11 EMS units) worked the scene at 48-08 47th Street, two blocks from Queens Boulevard. A Con Edison vacuum truck pulled soil away from the worker while Special Operations firefighters shored the cut with two trench struts, Battalion Chief Ryan Traina said. They then lifted the man out with a 4-to-1 rope system anchored to a 24-foot ladder. Paramedics treated him at the scene, and EMS described his injuries as minor.

ABC7 New York placed the site in Sunnyside, between two apartment buildings, and said the call came around 4:30 p.m. Neither report said how deep the trench was, what work was being done, who employed the worker, or whether any protective system was in place before the walls let go. No inspection findings or violations had been reported by Tuesday.

OSHA requires a protective system (sloping, benching, shoring or a shield) in any trench 5 feet deep or more unless it is cut entirely in stable rock, and trenches of 20 feet or more need a system that a registered professional engineer has designed, or one based on engineer-approved tabulated data. A competent person has to inspect the trench before anyone enters, every day and whenever conditions change, and spoil must sit at least 2 feet back from the edge. OSHA lists surcharge loads and nearby operations among the factors that shape protective system design.