Trench trouble

More than 70 CFA personnel helped to rescue the man mid-morning. Picture: Keith Pakenham – CFA

By Danielle Galvin
A ROWVILLE man who had to be rescued from a trench in Pakenham on Saturday morning was stuck up to his waist in the “quicksand” mud and water.
Paul Alderman, 35, was trapped in a hole at a Pakenham housing estate and had to be rescued by emergency authorities.
The plumber was connecting a sewer at the Stable Street address and digging a trench using an excavator.
Sergeant Richard Dawson from Pakenham police attended the incident and said as the man jumped into the hole, the sides collapsed.
He described the trench as very wet and muddy, like quicksand.
“He was stuck up to his waist and his mates tried to pull him out but couldn’t, so they called triple zero just after 9am,” Sgt Dawson said.
The rescue took more than two hours, with more than 70 emergency service personnel in attendance. The CFA had eight trucks and vehicles from Dandenong, Hallam, Pakenham, Nar Nar Goon, Toomuc and the Cardinia Group. Five MFB trucks also attended as well as one SES crew.
District 8 Operations Manager Paul Carrigg said the CFA was alerted to the incident just after 9am.
“SES was on scene and we called in specialist equipment from Dandenong and Hallam CFA brigades and MFB,” he said.
“The victim was treated by paramedics until the equipment was set up.”
Specialist equipment was used to free the man to ensure the trench didn’t give way any further.
The man was freed about 10.40am and taken to hospital in a stable condition but had some injuries.
He was taken by ambulance to the Monash Hospital and treated for hypothermia.
WorkSafe’s Construction Manager Allan Beacom said it was fortunate the worker had a colleague nearby who was able to raise the alarm.
“Broken limbs, asphyxia and crush injuries are just some of the serious injuries that can occur when a trench collapses,” he said.
“This man is incredibly lucky he wasn’t seriously injured; the consequences could have been a lot worse.”
Mr Beacom said the incident was a reminder to the construction industry to review safety practices.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first time we’ve come across an incident where a trench has collapsed on a worker. This time last year, WorkSafe issued a safety alert on this topic as we were coming across a number of incidents being engulfed in collapsed trenches.”