A construction company faces proposed fines of $170,136 after an excavator bucket came loose due to a missing safety latch and crushed the lower body of a worker, according to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.
The 35-year-old employee of Rotschy Inc. was in a trench box at about 8:30 a.m. June 3 in Woodland giving hand signals to the excavator operator when the bucket fell off the arm and crushed the lower half of his body, L&I reported December 3. “The operator attempted to lift the bucket off the worker using the hydraulic arm of the excavator when the bucket slipped, crushing the worker a second time. Firefighters eventually rescued the worker who was hospitalized for more than a month with severe injuries.”
During its investigation, L&I determined that the quick coupler was missing a safety latch that prevents the bucket from falling off. The agency noted a second excavator on the site also had a missing safety latch.
L&I photo taken inside the excavator involved in the crushing incident showing the bucket without the safety latch attached to the quick coupler. "The orange warning sticker prompts the excavator operator to consult the quick coupler operation manual before use," L&I says. "Other stickers inside the cab showed the required safety latch and how to use it."Washington State Department of Labor & Industries
L&I reports that Rotschy checked all its other excavator quick couplers and found 13 that did not have the required safety latches.
“Quick couplers are standard in the industry, but removing the safety latch from them certainly isn’t,” said Craig Blackwood, assistant director for L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health. “These actions demonstrate a blatant disregard for the rules designed to keep workers safe. This young man’s life will be forever impacted by this incident that was entirely preventable.”
Six Citations Issued
This photo showing the green safety latch on the quick coupler, which was missing from the excavator bucket that fell onto the worker, was taken the day after the incident when Rotschy brought in another excavator to continue work, according to L&I.Washington State Department of Labor & Industries
L&I listed the following violations:
(Serious violations are those that could lead to serious injury or death. Willful violations are those in which the employer knew or should have known the rules but did not follow them.)
- Missing safety latches on two quick couplers – willful violation, $67,320.
- No walkway for workers to cross over the 10-foot-deep trench; workers were jumping across the trench – willful violation, $67,320.
- No cave-in protection around an upright sewer manhole inside the trench – repeat violation, $13,464.
- Failure to remove workers from hazardous areas of possible cave-in – repeat violation, $13,464.
- Workers under excavator bucket – serious violation, $6,732.
- No ladder extending at least 3 feet above the trench edge – serious violation, $1,836.
Other Violations
The upright manhole inside the 10-foot-deep trench June 3 with rescuers on the scene after a worker was crushed by a falling excavator bucket in Washington.Washington State Department of Labor & Industries
On November 10, L&I issued five serious violations totaling a $13,770 in proposed penalties for failure to evaluate and make workers and supervisors aware of the potential hazard of a lateral displacement.
Rotschy is appealing this violation as well.
The company has been cited in the past by L&I. It was fined $156,259 after a 16-year-old student worker lost his legs due to a trencher accident June 30, 2023. Part of a work-based learning program, the teen was operating a stand-on mini track loader with a trencher attachment digging a channel for fenceposts. He was dragged underneath the blade. His injuries were so severe his legs had to be amputated.
Washington L&I asked the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in March to investigate and consider criminal charges for alleged violation of youth labor laws. A letter from L&I to the attorney’s office said the company has a history of youth labor violations.
In October, the prosecutor’s office declined to file charges.
A letter October 8 from Prosecuting Attorney Anothony F. Golik to L&I said that, though the minor was exposed to prohibited equipment, it could not be established beyond a reasonable doubt that Rotschy “acted with a culpable mental state.”
“This was a preventable accident, but the legal standard for felony prosecution requires more than a violation, it requires culpability,” the letter says. “That standard has not been met.”
The letter also included a statement from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office that said the minor victim’s parents declined to participate in the criminal investigation.
