A Kansas telecommunications construction contractor has been fined $66,730 for repeat violations after a worker died in a trench collapse last year, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration.
Francisco Rodriguez, 54, was in a 25-foot-deep trench installing fiber-optic cable July 24 in Kansas City. He had been operating an excavator. Coworkers noticed he was missing and that the trench had collapsed, according to KCTV5. The recovery operation by the Kansas City Fire Department took more than nine hours.
K&W Underground was issued three repeat violations for not providing cave-in protection such as a trench box, for not providing a safe way to enter and exit the trench, and for soil piles placed within 2 feet of the trench’s edge.
In all, K&W was fined $83,412, but on appeal, the amount was reduced to $66,730.
The repeat violations stem from OSHA violations issued for utility construction in Louisburg, Kansas, on August 9, 2022, when workers were in a 6-foot-deep trench.
The company was fined $40,604 in 2023, later reduced to $28,423 on appeal. The violations included the three mentioned in the 2025 incident: no cave-in protection, no safe exit and material near the trench edge.
The company was also cited for workers not wearing head protection.
