Fatal results after a crack in a trench wall fails to stop work
One worker noticed a large crack in the soft dirt of an unprotected wall of a utility trench. He and the other employee in the trench at that time were told to use caution…but continue working. The subsequent collapse of that unprotected wall killed a man and earned his employer nearly a quarter of a million dollars in fines from Cal/OSHA.
Investigators for the state agency said Livermore-based contractor Platinum Pipeline, Inc. committed willful-serious safety violations by instructing employees to continue grading the bottom of the trench without providing any protection, even after identifying the soil as unstable. As a result, a 14-foot-high excavation wall collapsed and claimed the life of one of the workers on July 27, 2018. The company faces penalties of $242,600.