A worker in a trench was injured when a piece of equipment hit him in the head.  The worker was in a trench off County Line Road just west of State Road 135 on Thursday morning when a bucket detached from a backhoe and struck him in the head, White River Township Fire Chief Jeremy Pell said.  More than an hour later, emergency workers pulled the man out of the trench, Pell said. The victim was taken to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.  Pell said the man was working inside the trench, where workers from Filson Earthwork Co. were excavating for utility lines.  Workers said the bucket didn’t hit him directly in the head but bounced on the ground and rolled before striking him, he said.  The injury could have been significantly worse if the bucket had hit him directly in the head, Pell said.  The man was conscious and alert the whole time emergency workers were there.

         Emergency workers had to secure the trench before pulling the man out. The trench was deep enough that it was above worker’s heads, so firefighters first put in braces and supports to make sure it would not collapse, Pell said.  The Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident, said Marc Lotter, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Labor. He said investigators will look into the incident and whether proper safety procedures were being followed at the site.  The worker’s name and condition were not available Thursday.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

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