A contractor whose worker died two years ago at a New Canaan excavation site has been cited and fined by the U.S. Department of Labor, officials say.
The agency’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the Easton concrete and earthwork contractor “ for willfully failing to protect workers from cave-in and excavation hazards,” according to a press release issued by the Department of Labor on Monday.
OSHA “proposed more than $1.2 million in fines after a follow-up inspection uncovered numerous willful violations,” it said.
On the morning of Dec. 22, 2023, emergency responders rushed to Valley Road on a report of a construction accident, officials have said. There, a worker required rescue from a trench following an “excavation collapse,” and though the worker was removed within 15 minutes he succumbed to his injuries.
OSHA launched an investigation. According to the release, the agency cited the employer, Sound Construction Inc., for two “willful and five serious violations and entered into a settlement agreement requiring the owner to submit monthly lists of active worksites and allow OSHA to randomly inspect them to determine trenching and excavation safety standard compliance,”
In June, the same company was cited for seven violations in Stamford, the release said.
“Inspectors found the employer failed to train workers on unsafe trenching and excavation hazards, provide adequate protection from cave-ins, require daily excavation inspections, follow trench shield installation standards, and backfill shields to prevent hazardous movement,” it said. “OSHA proposed $1,224,798 in penalties for violations found in the follow-up inspection.”
The employer 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, the release said.