Operator Drowns After Amphibious Excavator Tips Over; Contractor Fined

A 26-year-old equipment operator drowned when the amphibious excavator he was in tipped over, trapping him underwater, and his former employer has been cited with four serious violations by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Austin Eugene Furner was working August 19 with a foreman to reposition a pump in a water-filled cell on Eagles Island, which is home to the USS North Carolina World War II battleship memorial near Wilmington, North Carolina, on the Cape Fear River.

“While attempting to exit the water-filled cell, the machine tipped over, trapping the equipment operator underwater,” OSHA reported December 27. “The crew and emergency responders could not revive equipment operator.”

RIGID Constructors LLC, based in Lafayette, Louisiana, was cited with these four serious violation on December 17 and faces proposed penalties totaling $50,703:

• Employees were not provided or required to wear personal flotation devices, like life jackets or buoyant work vests.  
• Employees working in the water-filled cell were not provided a skiff to use in case of emergency.
• Employer did not provide a required life ring with 90 feet of line for rescues.
• Employees did not receive training on safe usage of amphibious excavators, on personal flotation devices, emergency protocols and water-hazard safety.

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, unless the employer did not know or could not have known of the violation.

“RIGID Constructors’ failure to comply with federal safety and health standards resulted in a preventable tragedy,” said OSHA Area Director Kimberley Morton in Raleigh. “Safety cannot be just a marketing slogan or an afterthought, it must be a core commitment. Workplace safety isn’t optional, a privilege for some, or merely a recommendation; it is the law.”

Furner, of Carolina Beach, North Carolina, served in the U.S. Marine Corps between 2016 and 2020 and is survived by a wife and three sons.