Construction Worker Dies In Trench Collapse

A 20-year-old man was killed Tuesday afternoon after the trench he was working in collapsed.

Capt. Tim House with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said the man is identified as Aaron Banks of Covington.

The accident happened at Waterstone Falls subdivision, a Ryland Homes development, off Trammel Road in Cumming.

Capt. Jason Shivers with the Forsyth County Fire Department said, “The call came in originally at 2:40 p.m.”

The county fire department was dispatched to the scene of the new home site where the accident had occurred.

“He (Banks) was working in a trench that was 8 to 10 feet deep and initially he was buried completely over his head. Bystanders and co-workers were able to remove the dirt from around his head down to about his shoulders before we arrived,” said Shivers.

Upon arrival of the fire department a rescue attempt was put into place.

“When we arrived on the scene, of course, we had a very dangerous, precarious situation. We began a very methodical, scientific process of the trench rescue. Initially we were hopeful that we were going to be in rescue mode, but unfortunately that very quickly transitioned into a recovery mode. The gentlemen did pass away in the trench,” added Shivers.

The recovery operation and removal of Banks took about two hours.

Firefighters were assisted by Gwinnett County Technical Rescue, as well as, workers from the Forsyth County Water and Sewer Department who used a vacuum system to remove the dirt, that was wet and heavy from the recent rainfall, away from where Banks was trapped.

An investigation is underway by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA).

“By law, OSHA has up to 6 months to complete its investigation and issue a final report. It is OSHA policy not to issue any preliminary or interim reports until it issues its final report,” said Michael Wald, spokesperson with the U.S. Department of Labor in an e-mail to Cumming Patch.

OSHA has not yet determined whether any OSHA standards had been violated in yesterday’s incident. That is the reason for the investigation, according to Wald.

Questions were posed to Ryland Homes, but no statement has been issued yet.

Connie Hopeck contributed to this article.