How often these injuries happen
OSHA recorded 26 severe cases involving mines, caves, and tunnels over the last decade. Fractures are the most common injury type, accounting for 46% of all reported incidents.
These injuries are uniquely severe because they often involve falls into deep shafts or entrapment in confined spaces. You may suffer from brain injuries that require extensive medical intervention and long-term recovery.
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Check My BenefitsHow these injuries happen
Most injuries in this category stem from falls to lower levels, often when you are accessing manholes or deep excavation sites. Other common scenarios involve being struck by heavy pipes during lifting operations or flash fires caused by gas buildup in confined underground environments.
| Cause | Incidents | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Other fall to lower level | 18 |
| 2 | Fall on same level | 2 |
| 3 | Caught or wedged between objects— nonrunning | 1 |
| 4 | Explosion of nonpressurized vapors, gases, or liquids | 1 |
| 5 | Compressed between running equipment and other object(s) | 1 |
| 6 | Struck by suspended or swinging object | 1 |
Where injuries happen most
Construction accounts for 62% of these severe injuries, as crews frequently work in trenching and underground utility environments. Utilities and mining sectors also face significant risks due to the constant need for maintenance in confined, deep-access spaces.
Real cases like yours
Common patterns in these reports include failures to properly secure manhole covers, inadequate gas monitoring before entry, and lack of fall protection near open shafts. If your injury occurred during a similar inspection or maintenance task, an attorney can help you review the specific safety failures that led to your harm.
| Year | State | Industry | Incident summary | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | NJ | Construction | "An underground crew was opening up a manhole for a visual inspection. Natural gas was leaking in the manhole. As they began to slide the cover off, a flash occurred when the leaking natural gas mixed with oxygen, creating a combustible environment. One employee was hospitalized." | |
| 2024 | LA | Mining | "A culvert was being lifted when a pipe struck an employee in the face. The employee suffered a jaw laceration and was hospitalized." | |
| 2024 | TX | Utilities | "Two employees were setting up an inspection camera over a manhole. One of them tripped and fell into the manhole, landing about 20 feet below and suffering a broken left ankle, a sprained right ankle, and a laceration to the back of the skull. He was hospitalized." | |
| 2024 | TX | Mining | "An employee was moving a mudboat to a new drilling location. He lost his footing and fell back into a pre-existing cellar that was approximately 8 feet deep. He was hospitalized with fractures to his hip and left arm." | |
| 2024 | TX | Construction | "An employee was removing a plug from a pipeline. The plug and the pipe caught the employee's fingertip just below the fingernail, causing a partial amputation without bone loss. " | |
| 2023 | CO | Manufacturing | "An employee was sealing the inside of a manhole sleeve that had just been installed. Two fingers on their right hand were caught between two pieces of the concrete manhole structure and the employee sustained an amputation." | |
| 2023 | SD | Construction | "An employee was spraying concrete sealer when they fell into a 3-foot drain hole. The employee landed on their feet and sustained a broken femur." | |
| 2022 | TX | Manufacturing | "An employee was doing maintenance work in a tunnel under a production line. The employee fell approximately 9 feet through an open manhole, landed on the concrete level below, and suffered neck and back injuries." | |
| 2022 | TX | Construction | "An employee was removing the cover of a manhole when he slipped into the manhole and fell approximately 15 feet to the bottom of the hole, resulting in cracked ribs on his right side." | |
| 2021 | GA | Professional Services | "While pushing a distance wheel, an employee stepped on a sewer manhole cover that gave way, resulting in an injured right foot." |
Source: OSHA Severe Injury Reports. Narratives are verbatim from filings; identifying details may have been redacted by OSHA.