A viral video of a construction worker saying his employer asked him to “jump down” a 20-foot hole to install sewer pipes has garnered 1.6 million views on Tiktok.
Posted by @souliooo, the video shows a hole being dug by an excavator, as the poster talks about what was asked of him.
“They got me fucked up bro,” the man says in the video. “I just started working at this company, bruh, swear to god. OK, $12 an hour. They want me to jump down that motherf*cker, bruh. That’s goddamn 20-feet fucking deep. They want me down there in goddamn sewer pipes with doo-doo and shit. For $12 an hour? They got me fucked up.”
He then says he is about to walk off the job. In the comments section, @souliooo backtracked, calling the video both satire and a joke. After he filmed, he said the hole received some preventative shoring to make it safer to work in.
The video still sparked debate between commenters, as some felt he was simply complaining about hard work.
“And that’s why you will keep making $12,” one commenter wrote.
“Sounds like a 12/hour worker,” another said.
Others were critical of these comments, saying, “Truly amazed at how many comments of dudes bragging about risking their life for a job. Wild.”
Other commenters pointed out that Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards require some kind of shoring or a trench box, essentially a barrier to prevent cave-ins on such projects. @souliooo replied to several comments, stating that his video was a joke and that his work eventually shored up the trench they wanted him to be in. Some commenters took the version of events he shared in the video and criticized the lack of shoring or trench box.
“My cousin died from jumping in a trench to save a guy from the sides collapsing,” one wrote. “Saved the guy then the rest gave way and he died. Shoring over four feet!”
“No trench box, call OSHA. don’t get in. your life is worth more the 12 dollars,” another said.
And some urged the TikToker to walk away from the job.
“No. Ppl need to start walking away from jobs [like] this. Force employers to pay living wages!!” one wrote.
The Daily Dot reached out to @souliooo through a TikTok direct message and a comment on the video.
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