OSHA Citations Increase for Construction Industry After Employees Die

A federal investigation has determined that by failing to follow required workplace safety standards, a Georgetown construction contractor gave two workers installing sewer lines in an underground trench – more than two stories deep – little chance of survival when a large section of the excavation collapsed, crushing them under thousands of pounds of soil and rocks.

A federal investigation has determined that a Frisco utility contractor failed to follow required workplace safety standards when it allowed two workers to enter a trench with no protection system. The workers were digging the trench to repair a main sewer line. The trench collapsed and fatally engulfed one employee. The second worker was fortunate to escape.

An administrative law judge with the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission has affirmed U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration citations and $24,290 in penalties issued to Eustis Cable Enterprises Ltd., a Brookfield, Vermont, telecommunications contractor, following the death of an employee at an Andover, New York, worksite.