Two Confined Space Fatalities During Construction of a Sewer Line

At approximately 3:26 P.M. on March 8, 1984, a city fire department received a report that a man was down at a sewer construction site. When the firemen arrived on the scene, they learned that two workers were down in the newly constructed sewer. One worker was an employee of the company contracted to construct the sewer; the other worker was a State Department of Transportation employee. The two workers were removed from the sewer, and pronounced dead at the scene. Subsequent autopsy indicated cause of death to be carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. As a result of the rescue effort, 30 firemen and 8 construction workers were treated for CO intoxication and or exhaustion.