Contractor Faces $394K in Fines After Worker Dies in Trench

A Connecticut contractor faces proposed penalties of $394,083 after a worker died in a trench collapse in December. The same contractor was cited for similar violations in 2016, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration.

The collapse occurred at 10:35 a.m. December 22 in New Canaan when an employee for Sound Construction was in a 12-foot-deep trench repairing a water line. A trench wall collapsed and buried him.

The worker's body was removed from the trench 15 minutes later by the fire department. The cause of death was “bodily crushing injuries and asphyxiation,” according to OSHA. The name of the worker was not publicly released.

Sound Construction of Easton faces the following OSHA violations issued July 15:

• No trench box or other cave-in protection – Willful violation, $161,323 penalty. (A willful violation is OSHA’s highest penalty level and is when the employer knowingly failed to comply or “acted with plain indifference to employee safety.”)
• Exposing workers to struck-by hazards – a compact excavator was positioned within 2 feet of the edge of the trench with no restraining devices to prevent it from falling in. Willful, $161,323.
• Failed to provide employees training on trench hazards (four counts) – Serious violation, $64,524. (OSHA: “A serious violation exists when the workplace hazard could cause an accident or illness that would most likely result in death or serious physical harm.”)
• Failed to verify location of underground utility lines before excavation. Serious, $6,913.

OSHA notes that Sound Construction was cited in 2016 for three serious violations related to trench safety at a worksite in Trumbull. 

“Despite prior warnings, Sound Construction ignored trench safety protections, and that decision cost an employee their life,” said OSHA Area Director Catherine Brescia in Bridgeport, Connecticut. “All employers should make workplace safety a priority or risk being responsible for leaving the family, friends and co-workers of one or more of their employees to grieve this kind of preventable death.”

The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

OSHA