Hazardous Trenches, Good Luck and Bad Journalism

Eric Moreno is an extremely lucky guy. He was running some sewer pipe down in an unshored 7-8 foot deep trench last week when it collapsed on top of him. He could only breathe because the brim of his hard hat created a small pocket of air that separated his face from the dirt.

But even a breathing pocket often isn't enough to save the life of a trench collapse victim. A cubic yard of soil weights about 2700 pounds, the weight of a mid-sized automobile. A trench collapse may contain three to five cubic yards of soil. Do the math. Even if you're only buried up to your waist, successful rescue is unlikely; you're probably going to die. I've written before about workers, like Mike Morrison and Willie Hodge who both died as a result of trench collapses, even though they were only buried up to their waists.

My beef here is with the articles about Moreno's lucky escape. Not one of them (here, here, here, and here) mentioned that there is an OSHA standard that requires trenches deeper than 5 feet to be shored.

As I've written before, it wouldn't have taken the reporter too much time to add some valuable information to this article that might have gone beyond the human interest/shit happens/what-a-lucky-guy focus. If she couldn't spend 15 minutes on the web, she might have even called OSHA for some general information about trench collapses.

And then the readers (and construction workers) would have known that:

a) This tragedy was preventable
b) The employer was probably breaking the law.
c) Trench collapses are not to be taken lightly; most workers don't come out alive.

But Moreno's a tough guy:

Despite what was clearly a traumatic experience, Moreno said he is not afraid to continue working, and intends to return to work next week.
Moreno works for Gregg Electric Inc. of Ontario, a subcontractor for Oltmans Construction Co. of Whittier, a general contractor.
"I don't think I'd hesitate to get right back in," Moreno said. "I don't think I have any fears about that."

But if he's being sent down into unprotected 8-foot deep trenches, maybe he should have some fears. Maybe he and others working in unsafe workplaces should have been trained about the hazards of trenches and the laws that are meant to control those hazards.

Nothing New About Trench Collapses

Check out the Weekly Toll below and you'll find a familiar entry at the top: a worker crushed to death in a trench collapse. But how could employers know that a trench would collapse? OSHA's trenching standard for starters.

But Dr. Michael Silverstein also reminds us in his paper, OSHA At 35, the the hazards of trenching -- and how to prevent trenching casualties -- were well known even before OSHA issued its standard -- like somewhere around 2300 years before OSHA. Just ask Heroditus.

All the other nations, therefore, except the Phoenicians, had double labour; for the sides of the trench fell in continually, as could not but happen, since they made the width no greater at the top than it was required to be at the bottom. But the Phoenicians showed in this the skill which they are wont to exhibit in all their undertakings. For in the portion of the work which was allotted to them they began by making the trench at the top twice as wide as the prescribed measure, and then as they dug downwards approached the sides nearer and nearer together, so that when they reached the bottom their part of the work was of the same width as the rest.

-- The Histories of Herodotus, The Persian Wars, Book 7 Polymnia, c. 484 - 425 BC

Criminal Prosecution In Trench Death

Now this is more like it.

A concrete company was criminally charged Tuesday in the death of a worker who suffocated in a trench that collapsed at a worksite.

Maco Concrete Inc. willfully violated the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Act in connection with the April 23 death of Jeffrey Padot, Attorney General Mike Cox said in a news release.

The St. Clair Shores-based company was charged with failing to provide a hazard-free workplace, a 1-year felony carrying a fine of up to $10,000.

A telephone listing for Maco Concrete could not be located Tuesday night.

Padot, 41, of Eastpointe, and another worker were laying sewer pipes in a 10-foot-deep trench at a home in Oakland County's Addison Township. The other worker was rescued after the trench walls collapsed.

Investigators determined that the earthen trench walls were nearly vertical and were not supported or shored to reduce the risk of collapse, in violation of MIOSHA requirements.

OSHA regulations require trenches deeper than 5 feet to be either shored or sloped.

Oops. Did OSHA Forget That Public Employees Are Second Class Citizens?

Last Friday:

CHERRY HILLS VILLAGE, Colo. -- A Denver Water employee was killed overnight when a valve in the high-pressure water main he was working on ruptured, sending a crushing stream of water toward him. After the accident, Shawn Patilla, 35, of Denver was trapped in the trench and and his co-workers needed help to get him out.

The Arapahoe County Coroner's Office said an autopsy determined that Patilla died from head and neck injuries as a result of being hit by the water at a pressure of 90 pounds per square inch. "The transmission and distribution crew was disconnecting from a 24-inch water main and reconnecting service to a new 8-inch line when the valve in the 24-inch line blew out," said Craig Austin, with Denver Water.

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration was called in to investigate the accident.

Yesterday:

DENVER -- The federal agency that investigates workplace fatalities will not be involved in further investigation into the death of a Denver Water employee.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration does not have jurisdiction over city, state or county municipalities, according to the area director.

So what's the deal here? Did OSHA forget that Colorado is one of the 26 states in the country where OSHA doesn't cover public employees? It wouldn't be a complete surprise. Few people are aware of this gross injustice. Last Spring, for example, two public employees, Jose Rodriguez Garcia of Mission, Texas and Tony Poole of Byron, Georgia were were killed on the job. But Texas and Georgia are two other states that provide no OSHA coverage for public employees. Both articles about the fatalities initially stated that OSHA would be investigating the accidents. Both articles were wrong -- OSHA wouldn't be investigating -- and both were later corrected.

All three of these workers were killed in trenches, pretty dangerous work to be doing if your employer isn't even obligated to comply with basic safety precautions and if workers have no right to call for an inspection, no will any independent investigation be conducted if anyone dies, nor will anyone be fined if safety precautions were ignored.

You may recall the Labor Day death of Robert J. Creamer, 25, at the Georgetown Waste Water Treatment Plant "who allegedly drowned in a 600,000-gallon sewage vat."

According to the Georgetown Police Department, Creamer was in the process of taking liquid samples from a large, open concrete tank early Monday morning.For some reason, unknown at this point in time, Creamer fell into the tank and drowned.

Well, I haven't seen the investigation report, but generally when someone drowns in a tank in a wastewater treatment plant, it's likely because he was overcome by hydrogen sulfide or oxygen deprivation, and it's likely a violation of OSHA's Confined Space standard. Of course, in this case, we'll probably never know because there was no OSHA investigation because Ohio is yet another state where it's OK to kill public employees.

The Labor Day death of a Georgetown Waste Water Treatment Plant employee has been deemed an accidental drowning, said Brown County Coroner Dr. Tim McKinley and Georgetown Police Chief Forrest Coburn.

"We have no indication that it was anything but an accident," said Coburn.

Robert J. Creamer, 25, of Russellville was allegedly in the process of taking liquid samples from a large open concrete tank, known as a clarifier, when he somehow fell into the tank and drowned, said officials.

"Somehow" fell in. Just "an accidental drowning." Right.

And let's not forget Eric Johnson and Clyde Anthony Jones, 40, who were killed in a methanol explosion at a wastewater treatment plant in Florida. That incident is also being investigated by their employer, the city of Daytona Beach (although in this case, the US Chemical Safety Board has also decided to investigate the incident.)

Oh, and don't worry, even thought OSHA has pulled out, there will still be an investigation into the death of Shawn Patilla -- by Denver Water, Patilla's employer. Let me see if I can guess what the result will be: "just an accident." Prove me wrong, Denver.

Meanwhile, the total fines for the deaths Shawn Patilla, Robert J. Creamer, Jose Rodriguez Garcia, Tony Poole, Eric Johnson, Clyde Anthony Jones and other public employees that I probably don't even know about will come to about nothing, zippo, nada.

Which is apparently about how much this country values their lives.

Family Of Trench Victim Calls For Tougher Laws

Why employers who kill by willfully violating OSHA standards shouldn't receive more serious punishment should be an issue that every candidate has to address during this political season. Unfortunately, families of those killed seem to be the only ones asking the questions.

I wrote last July about how Nevada state OSHA had inexplicably failed to issue a willful citation against Western States Equipment and Bobcat Service for the deaths of two construction workers who were killed when a 12-foot deep trench collapsed on top of them. The workers had asked to have the trench shored before they began work. Without a willful citation, OSHA can't pursue a criminal prosecution.

The family of one of the workers refuses to let the issue die:

Travis Cruz was one of two men who died when the trench they were working in, collapsed on top of them. Now, Cruz's family is pushing for new laws that will better protect workers like Travis, who they say was concerned about the safety of work site, before he died there.

"He was a very hard worker. He had asked about the trench the day before to John Winfield, and told him he felt it was unsafe. He asked about what happens if the trench would collapse, and John Winfield responded with, 'use your phone, dial 911, we'll bear you out.' And this is what happened," says Terry Cruz, Travis' sister.

Nevada OSHA defended the serious citations and the $49,000 fine against the company, but federal OSHA is apparently now reviewing the case

"My brother should be out there working on the roads. It's hard every time you drive by, you think he should be there. We should be able to wave hi to him every so often when we see him on the street. So it's really hard."

Trench Deaths: "90 mph hour in a 15 mph school zone"

Yet another case where a negligent employer gets away with murder -- two murders -- with a small fine.

The families of two workers who were crushed to death in the collapse of a 12 foot deep trench in Reno, Nevada are calling for criminal prosecution of the employer, Jon Winfield. Travis Cruz and coworker Clayton Gregory were killed in the collapse. Nevada state OSHA recently fined the now-closed Western States Equipment and Bobcat Service $49,000 after finding "serious" safety violations. The OSHA trenching standard says that a trench box or some other kind of protection has to be used if the trench is over 5 feet deep.

The families don't think the relatively small fine is enough: Cruz's brother Terry

said Jon Winfield, owner of the Reno company hired by Somersett to dig the ditch, should be prosecuted.

"He was very careless," she said. "I think he should be facing jail time. He caused two people to lose their lives."

***

Steve and Jo Gregory said criminal charges should be brought against Winfield because a financial penalty alone will not protect others from the safety abuses that are responsible for the end of their son's life.

"I think it is very important that criminal charges be filed against this young man," Steve Gregory said of Winfield.

Gregory said he's met Winfield twice since his son's death, and thinks Winfield was foolish, not malicious, in ignoring the safety issues that preceded the trench's collapse.

"But if this is allowed with only a fine, then the state of Nevada sends a message that it's OK to work in unsafe conditions and all you get is a $50,000 penalty. (Contractors) can make that up in a day."

Unfortunately, because OSHA didn't find any willful violations, Winfield can't be prosecuted under the OSHAct which requires a willful violation that results in a fatality.

But reading the article, I can't understand why Nevada OSHA didn't find a willful violation:

OSHA officials could not be reached to comment on the report, issued June 22 and obtained Tuesday by the Reno Gazette-Journal.

The report said on the day of the accident, Winfield and six employees were working on the project. Winfield's company had a verbal contract with Somersett Development Co. in Reno to install a French drain to "de-water" the area along the fairway of the second hole on the golf course.

The trench at the time of its collapse was 54 feet long and up to 12 feet deep with an average width of 40 inches.

"Mr. Winfield stated that his crew was under pressure from management at the Somersett Development to complete this job as soon as possible," the report states.

Attempts to reach a Somersett representative after working hours were unsuccessful.

"(Two employees) both stated that Mr. Winfield would yell at the employees to hurry up their work," the report noted. "(One employee) stated that Mr. Winfield repeatedly said, 'Move your ass,' to laborers."

According to the OSHA investigation, employees also asked Winfield to remove debris and told him of water seeping into the trench at shoulder height. One employee who asked if the trench would be shored was told it did not need it, the report states.

"(Another employee) stated that he never felt safe in the trench, but did not say anything to Mr. Winfield because he was afraid of being ridiculed or humiliated," the report states.

The report found that "Employees of Western States Equipment and Bobcat Inc., had not been trained in recognition of hazards of the environment they were exposed to. Protective helmets were not required for employees working in the trench and surrounding areas."

The report also found:

• Water was allowed to accumulate in the trench without proper precautions.
  
  
• The spoils pile was not maintained at the required distance from the trench.
  
  
• No inspections by a competent person were conducted prior to the start of work in the trench.
  
  
• There was not an adequate means of access or egress from the trench. With no ladders of other means of egress, there was no safe or quick method to exit the trench when the collapse occurred.
  
  
• There was no evidence of any protective system for employees working in and around the trench. No shoring or shielding system had been installed in or around the trench.

Gregory's father talked of how the death of his son had altered the lives of his family:

"I saw the hole where he made footprints where they dug him out," he said. "I went through his pockets, which were soaking. That told me the ground in that trench was wet. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know the conditions there weren't safe."

Winfield's employees shouldn't have been allowed to work in a ditch with soil that was more than 5 feet deep and wet, said Gregory, adding that he has 27 year experience in the construction field.

"That's not just fudging a little," he said. "That's doing 90 mph hour in a 15 mph school zone."

Good point. Does anyone think that a person driving 90 miles per hour who kills a couple of kids in a 15 mph school zone would get off with a $50,000 fine?

No One's Died Yet, So What's The Problem?

BUFORD, GA — A construction worker was trapped up to his chest in dirt when a trench collapsed Friday morning, but co-workers helped dig him out before firefighters began rescue operations.

The laborer was installing a sewer line for Metropolitan Land Development, a Lilburn-based company cited five times in the past three years for serious violations involving trench safety, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Web site

The trench was reported to be 18-20 feet deep. OSHA requires trenches over 5 feet deep to have a protective trench box or to be shored or sloped against collapse.

Now, here's something I don't understand. OSHA assistant area director Bill Cochran said that a serious violation could result in a $7,000 fine. That's true, but given previous citations against the company, I would think that a willful citation -- carrying a $70,000 fine -- would be in order.

In 2003, Metropolitan Land Development was cited for two serious violations involving trenching hazards and ordered to pay OSHA $2,000 in an informal settlement. In 2004, the company was cited three times for trenching safety violations and fined $9,000, according to inspection reports posted on OSHA's Web site.

And one more thing. Rare among trench collapse articles, the author points out that why even partial trench collapses are potentially deadly:

Capt. Scott Kennedy, who supervises the tactical rescue team for Gwinnett County Fire Department, said trench collapses are often fatal. Just one cubic foot of dirt can weigh between 100 to 150 pounds, so a trench collapse can restrict breathing and blood flow to the point that it becomes deadly.

Or put another way, a cubic yard of soil weights about 2700 pounds, the weight of a mid-sized automobile. A trench collapse may contain three to five cubic yards of soil. Do the math.

Conclusion #1: This guy was damn lucky.

Conclusion #2: Put these guys in jail before they kill someone.

Memorializing A Lost Worker

Congratulations to Michelle Lewis, whose stepfather was killed in a trench collapse last year, for getting the story of her family's experience published yesterday, Workers Memorial Day, in the Burlington (VT) Free Press. Lewis's story was first published in Confined Space last January.

My sisters, mother and I have felt compelled to stop at work-sites as we have passed them in recent months. We have shared Mike’s story with friends and strangers. We want to honor Mike and to remind people to be safe at any cost. To my family, Mike is a hero. He died providing for his wife and family and ultimately teaching others to be safe. My mother often says with sadness in her eyes and longing in her heart, “This never should have happened to Mike.” She is right. Mike’s death was preventable, as most trench collapses are.

According to the AFL-CIO’s report, “progress in protecting workers’ safety and health is slowing, and for some groups of workers jobs are becoming more dangerous.... As the economy, the workforce and hazards are changing, we are falling further and further behind in our efforts to protect workers from new and existing problems.”

This Worker’s Memorial Day, my family will pray for the safety of people everywhere and will support the efforts of those trying to make change. I will think of my step-dad and will continue to share his story to advocate for safe working conditions for all.

Articles and letters to the editor from family members who have lost loved ones in preventable workplace "accidents" have the potential to make regular people and politicians sit up and take notice -- and understand that more needs to be done to make our workplaces safer. And it's up to those of you who understand what needs to be done, and the political context in which the carnage in America's workplaces take place, to talk to family members about the important work they can do to ensure that the needless deaths of their loved ones were not in vain.

Laws Of Nature, Laws Of Man (Some Men, At Least)

Now here's something interesting. ("Interesting" in a tragic sort of way.)

Two public employees have been killed in the past two weeks in perfectly preventable trench collpases: Jose Rodriguez Garcia of Mission, Texas and Tony Poole, of Byron, Georgia.

Both articles about the fatalities initially stated that OSHA would be investigating the accidents. Both articles were wrong -- OSHA won't be investigating -- and both were later corrected.

You see, Garcia and Poole were public employees, and in 26 states in this country -- including Texas and Georgia -- public employees are worth slightly less than other human beings. They don't get OSHA inspections, they don't get OSHA investigations, they don't have the right to a safe workplace and their employers don't get fined or penalized if they kill workers by ignoring well-recognized safety standards and best practices that private sector employers are required to follow.

One more thing: Check out the original headline in this article about Garcia (it was later changed):" Vibrations from car may have caused man's death." Now, a person who doesn't know a whole lot about trench collapses and how to prevent them might think, "Oh, well, shit, what a tragic coincidence, a car going by causing that trench to vibrate just when the poor guy was inside it. Who could have predicted that? Unlucky bastard."

Well, lots of things cause trenches to collapse -- vibration, water, soil conditions, and, who knows, maybe even sun spots and the juxtaposition of Jupiter and Mars. It isn't quite as important for employers and employees to know exactly why trenches collapse, as it is for them to understand that trenches collapse -- they collapse all the time. It's really more a function of the law of gravity -- which is why we have the laws of man to protect workers from the laws of nature.

The problem is that the laws of gravity apply to everyone, whereas the laws of man apply only to private sector employees. A lesson that the news media, and family of Garcia and Poole are only now finding out.

Shit Happens. Workers Die.

Jose Rodriguez Garcia of Mission, Texas, was killed yesterday when a 10-foot deep trench collapsed on top of him. But hey, what are you going to do? Accidents happen.

Santa Cruz Irrigation District Manager Roy Garza described Rodriguez as “a good worker. A very good worker; dedicated to his job; always on time. Just a good darn worker.”

Garza says his workers always practice safety. “They're careful. They don't horse around. They don't play around during the job. It just happened we had an accident,” he said.

The reporter, in this case, thought to ask a few more questions:

But some rescue workers say the accident could have been prevented. Edinburg firefighter Ubaldo Perez said, “If there would've been safety measures before it occurred. Prevention would've been the best scenario.”

Firefighters say a 10-foot trench requires safety measures. They believe there should have been reinforcements so the dirt would not cave in.

But that would have been hard work, according to Garza.

Garza tells us why reinforcements weren’t used. “Okay, it is hard to provide in this particular job. You have telephone lines. They go this way. You have to get a back hoe. This job would've taken an hour to do and maybe they didn't put the right protection they needed,” he said. When asked if they should have, he replied, “I believe so.”

Yeah, didn't want to spend another hour. Oh well, maybe next time.

Construction Company Owner Sentenced to Home Arrest For Willful Trench Death Of Worker

And speaking of justifiable anger (see below), the June 2004 death of William Partin really pissed me off. Partin was crushed to death when a 12 foot deep trench collapse on top of him in June 2004. OSHA requires trenches more than 5-feet deep to be protected by a trench box or shoring. It was a totally unnecessary, preventable tragedy, but nothing too unusual; workers are killed in trench collapses a couple of times a week.

But this one was particuarly tragic because there was a trench box sitting about 100 yards away from the accident site and the township's quality-control inspector has made repeated suggestions to workers and company officials to use the trench box. There had also been another trench collapse two weeks before Partin was killed.

OSHA took this case more seriously than most, at least initially, finding seven willful violations and fining the company $382,875, which was the largest fine for a trench collapse ever issued in Pennsylvania (although it was later reduced to $100,000). Then last October, the U.S. Attorney in Pittsburgh charged Partin's employer, Glen Wagner and Wagner Excavation Services, with willful violation of Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations.

Wagner pleaded guilty the following week, but reached a plea agreement with the prosecutor, promising that he and his company would each pay a fine of $25,000 and restitution to the victim's family under terms set by the court. Prior to the plea agreement, Wagner had faced up to six months in jail, $250,000 in fines and a year of probation for the misdemeanor charge.

Earlier this week, Wagner was sentenced to three years' probation, six months home arrest and fined $25,000. Wagner and his company will also pay $100,000 in OSHApenalties, a reduction from the original $382,875.

What I said when the plea agreement was announced is still true:

I obviously don't know any of the details of this case, but what's the point of filing criminal charges if you're going to let the guy off with another $25,000? If the case is weak, why bother filing charges in the first place, and if it's a strong case, why settle a few days later for a fraction of the possible penalty?

Is this supposed to be an effective lesson for workpace killers?

I mean, with a trench box sitting next to the site, with warnings by the quality control inspector, and a trench more than two times as deep as it should have been, you can't have a more "willful" citation.

You Can't Fine Me. I Haven't Killed Anyone Yet

That's the attitude that R.A. Cullinan and Son Inc. is taking in challenging a $197,500 OSHA fine for exposing workers to potential trench cave-ins.

OSHA claimed the company violated safety standards because two trenches were without cave-in protection, and backfill and other materials were placed too close to the edge of the trench. Also, OSHA claimed the contractor did not protect workers from being injured in the swing radius of a backhoe working in the area.

No one was injured during the construction.

"Any one of these violations has the potential to cause serious harm, even death, to workers," John Newquist, OSHA's area director in Peoria, said in a prepared statement. "Trenching remains one of the most hazardous jobs in construction if proper safety procedures are not followed."

Apparently, an OSHA official had warned the company that shoring was needed for a trench they were digging, but when he returned, not only wasn't the trench shored, but they had dug another unshored trench.

Mike Cullinan, president of the company, announced that they would appeal the citation:

"While there is always an element of judgment in the interpretation and implementation of safety rules and regulations, we particularly take issue with any inference that the company itself was 'willful' or 'shirked' our responsibility in the proposed OSHA finding and penalty," Cullinan said.

"We value the safety of the public and our employees and hold ourselves to the highest professional standards to ensure their well-being," he said.

"We have a proactive safety program and will continue to pursue safety on the job site in the future with the same vigor as in the past," Cullinan added.

One might be able to say that with a straight face if his company hadn't received ten trenching violations over the past 20 years. And isn't it amazing how every single company that kills someone or that receives an OSHA citation has a great safety program?

And actually, trenching regulations aren't really so vague as to need a whole lot of interpretation. Basically trenches need to be protected from collapse if they're over 5 feet deep, piles of soil have to be kept 2 feet back, and you need to keep workers out of the way of the backhoe. You can check out OSHA's trenching standards here if you don't believe me.

And R.A. Cullinan has absolutely no excuse for being confused about trenching regulations:

R.A. Cullinan and Son has been in the highway construction business since it was organized in 1913. The company is located in Tremont, Illinois, and services the Peoria metropolitan area. R.A. Cullinan has become a respected industry leader in asphalt paving, aggregate production, concrete paving, subdivision construction, and underground work. A third generation family business, R.A. Cullinan has been involved in many significant projects over the years.

Does this sound like a company that can't figure out an OSHA standard?

So just quit complaining, pay the frigging fine and thank your lucky stars you didn't kill someone.

A Fine -- And A Message: The Death Of Mike Morrison

Earlier this year, I published an article "The Loss of a Great Man," by Michelle Lewis, whose step-father, Mike Morrison, was killed in a trench collapse. On Sunday, the Tampa Tribune published Michelle's article.

Federal officials found that the walls of the trench, which was 9 feet deep, should have been shored up or sloped instead of vertical and that the trench had not been inspected properly before the workers got into it. The company, B&B Plumbing of Clearwater, paid $21,000 for the safety violations that contributed to Mike's death.

Is this a serious consequence? Will this help employers learn to protect their employees from harm?

Nothing can bring Mike back to us. Our pain will never go away; nor will the images of Mike's death.

My sisters, mother and I have shared Mike's story with friends and strangers and have stopped at work sites to remind people to be safe.

My mother often says, "This never should have happened to Mike." She is right. Mike's death was preventable.

We continue to mourn the loss of a great man, a hard worker who cherished my mom and his family, adored his cats and liked to take walks at Seminole Park. We will find happiness in our memories and strength from kind friends and family around us.

We will pray for the safety of workers everywhere and continue to share Mike's story to advocate for safe working conditions. That's what Mike would want.

By the way, if you read to the end of Michelle's article in the Tampa Tribune, you'll notice a link for "Letters to the Editor." Hint, hint.

Just Another Day In The American Workplace

There are no good days in the American workplace.

Still, it seems like some days are worse than others. This is a small sampling of what arrived in my in-box today:

OSHA investigates Metro East man's workplace death

SAUGET, Ill. Federal workplace-safety officials are investigating a man's death while he worked at a Metro East plant.

Police say 27-year-old J-D Croom of Cahokia died yesterday when he was sucked into a large machine at the Mid-America Fiber Company plant in Sauget.


Worker Dies After He Is Pulled Into Machine

NEW HAVEN -- A worker died after he was pulled into a machine at a scrap metal yard Wednesday, police said.

The accident occurred at about 4:15 p.m. at Regan Metal Corp., 69 Poplar St., police said. Richard Larson, 54, of Kensington, was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:45 p.m., Sgt. Robert Dudley said.

Police said Larson was loading metal into a machine that coils the metal. His work glove apparently got caught in the machine when he went to adjust a bar, and the machine pulled him in, Sgt. Andrew Muro said.

OSHA is to review fatal work accident

BRUNSWICK HILLS TWP. - The federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration is expected to probe Tuesday's death of a delivery man crushed by about a ton of granite slabs.

Owatonna man killed in job accident

OWATONNA, Minn. — A 25-year-old Owatonna man died in a workplace accident, police said Wednesday.

Patrick Donahue was pinned under a crate that weighed nearly a ton while working in the shipping area at Viracon Inc., an architectural glass fabricator based in Owatonna.

White Mills Man Dies In Construction Accident

(RADCLIFF, Ky.) -- A construction worker died on Thursday morning when the trench he was working in collapsed on top of him.

Tommy Hensley, 42, was standing about eight feet deep in the trench in a new construction site off Hill Street when the sides of the trench caved in, Radcliff Police spokesman Bryce Shumate said.

Days like this always bring to mind the wise words of the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Senator Michael Enzi (R-WY):

Cooperation, not confrontation is essential in making our workplaces safer. The notion that employers care little about worker safety, or are prepared to sacrifice worker health in the pursuit of profit is a dangerous myth.

In fact, most employers are concerned for the welfare of their employees and are fully prepared to comply with laws aimed at enhancing their safety on the job.

I gotta go to bed.

The New Yorker: Haymarket and Digging Deep Trenches

The normally high-brow New Yorker magazine has gone somewhat lower brow this week with two worker-oriented stories. The first is a book review (Death in the Haymarket: A Story of Chicago, the First Labor Movement, and the Bombing That Divided Gilded Age America , by James Green) dealing with the 1886 Haymarket bombing and the subsequent sham trial of eight anarchists for murder:

The prosecution never proved that any of the eight had planned, committed, or even known in advance about the Haymarket bombing. Instead, it relied on their words. All of them had praised violence in the cause of socioeconomic justice. “If we would achieve our liberation,” Parsons had told a crowd of protesters in April of 1885, “every man must lay by a part of his wages, buy a Colt’s navy revolver, a Winchester rifle, and learn how to make and use dynamite.” The prosecution argued that anarchism itself constituted a conspiracy to commit murder, and the jurors agreed, sentencing all but one of the defendants to death. The person who actually threw the bomb was never identified.

Three were eventually hanged.

The second is a short story by Italian author Erri De Luca called "The Trench." It's about an Italian immigrant laborer who's spends days digging a 20-foot deep unprotected trench in France -- knowing that it could collapse on top of him any moment.

The two of us dug in that narrow trench for several days, each day darker than the one before. We put the dirt in containers that were hoisted up from above with a pulley. We entered at dawn; we came out for the midday break, then again at five. Even those who don’t do this kind of work know that a trench like that should be reinforced on both sides, with vertical beams wedged in by perpendicular struts. Otherwise, there’s the risk of collapse. But our boss didn’t want to bother with all that. So the two of us dug, face to face, knowing that we were caught in one hell of a trap. Who were we and why had we accepted this risk?

Who were they? An Italian and Algerian who needed jobs and knew they'd be fired if they protested.

I needed the job. I had found it with difficulty after weeks of pounding pavements on the outskirts of Paris. I had got it, and I wanted to hold on to it, and no damn boss was going to stop me. If he wanted an excuse to get rid of me I wasn’t going to give him one—I would descend to the depths of hell, but I wouldn’t retreat.

That was why, for those few days, two men who didn’t know each other and couldn’t even have addressed each other by name stood face to face in a trench, risking their lives in search of a sewage pipe. With every foot we advanced, the sky narrowed; soon it was just a strip the size of the hole we were standing in. With every foot we advanced, we were waiting for that trench to collapse on us, burying us alive.

A familiar story on both sides of the Atlantic.

Trench Death = Manslaughter

Slowly, but sure, local prosecutors are figuring out that killing a worker in a trench or other obviously hazardous worksite is not just an "accident," it's murder -- or at least manslaughter:

A Bridgeport masonry firm owner faces a manslaughter charge in connection with the trench collapse that killed a worker last summer.

Marcio Lira, 36, of Woodside Avenue, was charged Thursday with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Ademilson Vieira, 37, of Bridgeport. Vieira, an illegal alien, was working last June 11 in an unprotected 11-foot trench at a home on Bruce Drive when a section collapsed, burying him. Fellow workers unsuccessfully tried to dig Vieira out from the rubble.

Lira was released on $50,000 bond and is scheduled to appear March 13 in Derby Superior Court.

Lira is a co-owner of Edwardo Osello Masonry and Painting in Bridgeport, the firm that was repairing a retaining wall in the back yard of the Bruce Drive home.

"By definition, manslaughter is when a person's recklessness causes the death of another," said Detective Robert Kozlowsky, Shelton Police Department spokesman.

OSHA issued seven serious citations and fined the company $20,100 for the violations last November, although the company appealed and penalty for the case, which has still not been finally closed, was reduced to $14,700.

OSHA has a detailed trenching standard, which among other things, requires trenches more than five feet deep to be protected against collapse with a trench box or shoring.

My question, as usual, is: The OSHA standard is well known, so why were there no willful citations, and why not criminal prosecution by OSHA? According to OSHA, a willful citation means that there was "intentional disregard or plain indifference to the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act."

So come on OSHA, what am I missing here?

(More on Vieira's death here.)



Far West Fined $1.77 Million for Confined Space

Meanwhile, you may remember last November, the Arizona Attorney General's office convinced a jury to find the Far West Water and Sewer Company guilty on five of the six felony charges filed against it for the deaths of James Gamble, 26, and Gary Lanser, 62, who were overcome by toxic sewage gases while working on an underground sewer tank on Oct. 24, 2001.

In January, a Yuma judge imposed $1.77 million in criminal fines against the company for negligent homicide, aggravated assault, violating a safety standard.

The fine was broken down to $500,000 for the three convictions resulting from Mr. Gamble's death and $500,000 for the two convictions resulting from Mr. Garrett's injuries, plus a surcharge of $770,000. The judge also awarded over $150,000 in restitution to Mr. Garrett and Mr. Gamble's family, which will be paid from the fine.

***

Witnesses for the State testified the air in the sewer tank had not been tested during the day, the workers were not properly trained, safety equipment was not available or used, and required safety and rescue procedures were not followed.

Meanwhile, Behind The Headlines....

OK, so I'm sitting here waiting for the headlines, the CNN special reports, the Congressional hearings, the promises to toughen the safety laws and increase penalties.

And waiting, and waiting...

Jan 28, 2006
Two rescued from cave-in: Workers frantically dig to extricate men

A welding mask may have saved the life of a Pocahontas man buried alive at 2:45 p.m. Friday after a wall of dirt trapped him and a co-worker in a trench on Highway 62 East near Mallard Point Road.

Emergency personnel pulled 33-year-old Rodney Smith and co-worker Jay Davis from a 10-foot trench and immediately transported them to Baxter County Regional Medical Center for treatment.


February 1, 2006
Trench collapse injures one

North Haven, CT-A trench collapse in North Haven sends one person to the hospital.

The trench collapsed when a ditch was being dug for a pipe in an industrial area of Sackett Point Road and one worker was injured.


February 2, 2006
Man Dead After Trench Collapses In Bloomfield Hills

A man is dead after a construction trench collapsed in Bloomfield Hills Wednesday afternoon.

Bloomfield Hills police said the man was working on an exterior wall of a basement in a house on Pinegate Street, near Woodward and Long Lake.


February 18, 2006
Trench's collapse kills plumber

JAMES CITY -- The plumber who died Wednesday morning at a construction site after a trench collapsed was buried for nearly 38 minutes before rescuers could get to him.

Timothy Allen Stanfield, 25, of Daybreak Circle in Newport News was installing water and sewer lines for a new house in the Stonehouse subdivision when the trench's walls gave way.


Feb 21, 2006
Reno man becomes second person to die in trench collapse

Reno, NV -- A Reno man died at a hospital today, four days after he was buried in a trench collapse at a golf course.

39-year-old Travis Cruz became the second person to die in the accident at Reno's Somersett Golf Course. A co-worker, Clayton Gregory of Redding, California, died in the cave-in Tuesday.

A third worker, Anthony Smith of Reno, was trapped for nearly four hours before being rescued.

February 24, 2006
Firefighters rescue two workers trapped in trench collapse

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. Firefighters in Mount Pleasant have rescued two men trapped in a trench collapse.


February 26, 2006
Worker dies after pit collapses

SAN BERNARDINO - A construction worker on the Interstate 210 extension project died Saturday when a hole being excavated collapsed around him.

[Capt. Mike Bilheimer of the San Bernardino Fire Department] said two workers were installing trench boxes about 30 feet down in a hole wider than a tractor-trailer when the north side of the hole collapsed. One worker escaped, but the other was buried.


Meanwhile, in the "Why are these guys still walking the earth as free men" Department...

Company fined in trench fatality

WEST CHESTER, OH - A West Chester construction company was hit today with nearly $200,000 in additional fines for alleged violations of federal workplace health and safety standards.

The fines are the second time in two months the company has been fined for unsafe conditions.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced today that it is proposing $194,250 more in fines against the Sunesis Construction Company following inspections at three trenching sites opened between August and October 2005.

These guys are particularly infuriating. Sunesis is a big, well established company that gets lots of government contracts. There's no excuse for killing two men or their repeated neglect of well-recognized safety standards. So is $400,000 just payment for the lives of two men, and the reckless endangerment of many others? Will it deter others from comitting the same crimes?

I'd say a little hard time rotting in the state pen might send a clearer message.


And then there these...

Safety Administration Charges Contractor in Trench Fatality

A worker died in a trench collapse in the construction zone at Elm Hill Pike under Briley Parkway back in December. Now the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA) has cited the Mt. Juliet Contractor.

TOSHA completed its investigation of a workplace accident that resulted in a fatality on December 1, 2005. The report cites Mountain States Contractors LLC and its successors located in Mt. Juliet, and they’ve been fined $147,200.

The company has been cited with both willful and serious violations. Willful violations are issued when an employer has shown intentional disregard of the requirements of the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations.


Company fined for deadly ditch accident

SANDPOINT, ID -- A Sandpoint excavation company has negotiated a settlement with federal labor safety regulators over a utility line trench cave-in which killed a Sagle man last summer.

Tucker Excavation & Pipeline must develop and implement an excavation safety program and pay nearly $19,000 in fines for safety violations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Yeah, $19,000 out have 'em shaking in their boots.

Fatal Trench Collapses: Excuses We Have Heard Before

"It's one of those things you've done a million times and on the millionth-one time, there's a problem."

-- Robert Brand, President of Robert R. Brand's Environments, a landscaping company that buried 29-year-old Roberto Alvarez-Nava alive in a 9 foot deep trench.

OSHA requires trenches more than 5 feet deep to be shored or sloped back to prevent collapse. Bob Pawlowski, MIOSHA's director of construction safety, said that the company has a clean safety record and never had a safety violation.

Their clean safety record clearly depended on luck, something that workplace safety programs should not be based on, according to the OSHAct.

Trench Collapses and Murder: Anyone Listening Out There?

There's something very, very wrong here.

I noted that OSHA had fined a Texas construction company the other day, Site Concrete, $117,500 for their "alleged failure to protect employees from cave-in and other safety hazards." The citations included one alleged willful and two alleged repeat violations. The OSHA press release stated that at the time of the inspection, four workers were installing a new valve on the water main inside a seven-foot deep trench. OSHA standard require shoring or sloping of any trench more than 5 feet deep.

OK, not bad, I thought. This is clearly a bad actor:

"Since 1998, this employer has been inspected by OSHA 16 times, resulting in $231,510 in fines and penalties. Exposing employees to unsafe working conditions is unacceptable," said Kathryn Delaney, OSHA area director in Dallas. "Employers must follow safety and health standards to prevent injuries and fatalities, and are responsible for providing a safe and healthful workplace for their employees."

But then, something fluttered way deep inside this aging brain of mine...Site Concrete, where have I heard that name before?

Oh, yeah.

These guys hadn't just been inspected and fined a number of times over the past seven years, they killed a worker just over a year ago in a 15-foot deep trench, a fact that seems to have been left out of the OSHA press release. For that little infraction, the company received a $147,000 penalty (including a willful and repeat citation), which is being appealed at the moment.

I wrote a very angry piece after that last fatality, which I won't repeat here. It's full of anger at OSHA for not having thrown these guys in jail or even bringing a willful citation in the ten previous inspections where trenching violations were found, anger at Site Concrete's attorney who didn't think they had done anything wrong, and anger at the state of Texas for continuing to allow this criminal corporation to receive government contracts. Go read it yourself.

But I'm mostly pissed off right now because just last night I printed a heart-breaking article by the step-daughter of Mike Morrison, a man killed in a preventable trench collapse and I can't help but think that if OSHA had started throwing these assholes in jail everytime they kill someone in a trench, Mike Morrison and many others would be alive today.

Excuse the profanity, but is there any good reason that the owners of Site Concrete aren't in jail tonight? Is there any good reason that any trench collapse should be considered manslaughter or homicide or murder? Can we just see a little bit of the anger over this situation that we're seeing in West Virginia? And maybe a Congressional hearing or two?

Hello? Anyone listening?

The Loss Of A Great Man

Not a famous man, but a great one.

Last Spring I wrote about the death of Mike Morrison in a 12 foot deep trench. Plenty of workers are killed every year in unshored trenches that violate OSHA regulations, but I highlighted Morrison's case because he was "only" buried up to his waist and was conscious during much of the rescue attempt, yet the weight of the soil was enough to crush his internal organs and kill him. There was an important lesson there for those who think they can just dig themselves out if they're caught in a trench collapse.

Today I received a letter from Morrison's step-daughter, Michelle Lewis, about what Morrison's death did to her family and their anger over his preventable death. I'm reprinting part of it below, but go here and read the entire letter.

How could Mike have lost his life at just 48 years old? He was strong, skilled and one of the most respected plumbers in Pinellas County. That Thursday morning, our mom and Mike talked about their retirement dreams and what they would have for dinner. “Give me a kiss goodbye, my prince,” my mom asked. How could Mike have gone to work just miles away, never to return?

***

The Occupational and Health Administration cited Mike’s employer, B&B Plumbing, with five violations. The nine-foot trench was not inspected or secured properly before Mike and others were sent into it. No sloping, shoring or shielding was provided, which is required by OSHA for any trench deeper than five feet. B&B was fined $21,000 by federal officials. Is this a serious consequence? Will this help employers learn to protect their employees from harm? When thinking about my family’s loss, this fine seems disproportionate and absurdly inadequate, but nothing can bring Mike back to us. Our pain will never go away; neither will the images of Mike’s death that haunt us. I can only hope that people will learn from Mike’s death and will take every measure imaginable to ensure the safety of workers.

My sisters, mother and I have felt compelled to stop at work-sites as we have passed them in recent months. We have shared Mike’s story with friends and strangers. We want to honor Mike and to remind people to be safe at any cost. To my family, Mike is a hero.

He died providing for his wife and family and ultimately teaching others to be safe. He gave my mother the happiest times of her life, as she gave to him. My mother often says with sadness in her eyes and longing in her heart, “This never should have happened to Mike.” She is right. Mike’s death was preventable, as most trench collapses are.

Somehow, my mom tries to go on. It is a struggle that words cannot express. This year, we will continue to mourn the loss of a great man, a hard-working man who cherished my mom and his family, adored his cats and liked to take walks at Seminole Park. We will find happiness in our memories and strength from kind friends and family around us.

We will pray for the safety of workers everywhere and we will continue to share Mike’s story to advocate for safe working conditions. That’s what Mike would want.