Margate canal diver trapped, drowns - Florida

[DandyDon]

From last April but not previously posted here...

Worker Goes Missing While Dredging Canal in Margate

Crews were searching for a worker who went missing while dredging a canal in Margate Monday morning. Officials said the worker was part of a crew that was dredging the canal in the 6900 block of Northwest 18th Street when the bank somehow gave way. The worker wasn’t able to get out of the water...

www.nbcmiami.com

Crews were searching for a worker who went missing while dredging a canal in Margate Monday morning.

Officials said the worker was part of a crew that was dredging the canal in the 6900 block of Northwest 18th Street when the bank somehow gave way.

The worker wasn't able to get out of the water and was believed to be trapped in the mud or sediment, officials said.

Margate Fire Rescue and the Broward Sheriff's Office Dive Team responded to search the canal. Officials said the operation is difficult because of the consistency of the water.

Neighbors in the area said a small crew has been working in the canal for the past few weeks.

No other information was immediately known.

Recent update after findings...

FL Industrial Diver Trapped By Sediment Drowns - SUN News Report

Working at the bottom of a Margate canal on April 4, 2022, a young diver was removing sand with an industrial vacuum to restore an embankment project, when sediment above collapsed onto him, leaving the 22-year-old worker trapped until he drowned. An OSHA found the diver’s employer – Erosion...

sunnewsreport.com

Working at the bottom of a Margate canal on April 4, 2022, a young diver was removing sand with an industrial vacuum to restore an embankment project, when sediment above collapsed onto him, leaving the 22-year-old worker trapped until he drowned.

An OSHA found the diver’s employer – Erosion Barrier Installations Corp. of Davie – did not follow required safety standards, and issued citations related to the following violations:

• Failing to train divers in dive-related physics and physiology;
• Not training dive teams on equipment use, techniques, and emergency procedures required to perform underwater tasks safely;
• Not ensuring that all dive team members are CPR-trained;
• Failing to require that an experienced dive team member supervise dredging operations in a canal with zero visibility;
• Failing to have an emergency aid list at the worksite;
• Performing underwater dredging in a canal without a standby diver; and
• Not providing employees with harnesses capable of distributing the pull forces over divers’ bodies.

OSHA proposed $46,409 in penalties to address the two willful and 10 serious violations.

OSHA also cited the company in April 2011 due to a fatal diving incident.

According to published data, approximately 80 divers lose their lives in the United States and Canada every year due to scuba diving accidents. This represents a rate of approximately 3.4 to 4.2 deaths per 100,000 divers according to the scuba diver organization DAN America.

While the causes of these commercial scuba diving deaths vary, most occur due to multiple root causes, including:

1. Gas-supply problems (41%);
2. Entrapment/entanglement (19%), and
3. Equipment troubles (16%).

Countless more divers sustain serious injuries that can lead to permanent disabilities. Other common causes of scuba diving accidents include emergency ascent, insufficient breathing gas, and buoyancy problems.

Operating throughout Florida and the Southeast, Erosion Barrier Installations Corp. provides shoreline and seawall restorations, erosion and retaining wall repair, dredging, culvert cleaning, and pipe inspections.

The company offers services to residential, commercial, and local government customers.

 

[Cthippo]

Interesting. Sounds like a trench related fatality, but they did not apply the trenching safety statutes.