Tag: construction deaths

Safety

Contractors fined $265K for trench collapses, including fatal cave-ins in Ala., Miss.

This year is starting out to be a costly one for contractors cited for trench violations by the U.S. Occupational Health & Safety Administration. OSHA issued proposed penalties totaling $264,670 in January for five separate trench collapses, including cave-ins in Alabama that killed two workers and one in Mississippi that killed one worker. OSHA reported […]

February 11, 2020

Safety

Boston drain service owner guilty of manslaughter in trench-collapse deaths

The owner of a Boston drain service company has been found guilty of manslaughter in the death of two of his workers during a 2016 trench collapse in the city. On October 31, Suffolk Superior Court judge determined after an eight-day bench trial that Kevin Otto and his company, Atlantic Drain Service, were guilty in […]

November 4, 2019

Safety

Construction deaths drop in 2017, but industry remains most-fatal sector

Construction industry deaths dropped between 2016 and 2017, but the construction still remains the most fatal sector according to the annual AFL-CIO report.

April 30, 2019

Safety

CPWR: Deaths rise at small construction companies, drop at larger firms

Large construction firm fatalities dropped 30% between 2008 and 2016, while small construction firm fatalities climbed 57% according to CPWR. Learn more here.

November 12, 2018

Death by Trench

Average initial OSHA fine for a trench death in 2016-17: $52,383

Editor’s Note: This story was updated in July to reflect newly released OSHA fines. OSHA fined Atlantic Drain Service nearly $1.5 million for the Boston trench collapse that killed Kelvin (Chuck) Mattocks and Robert Joseph Higgins on Oct. 25, 2016. The Atlantic Drain fine, however, is an extreme outlier. Looking at available records during 2016-2017, […]

July 17, 2018

Safety

Construction struck-by deaths up 34% since 2010

Struck-by hazards have been defined as one of the Focus Four hazards identified by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) as a leading cause of injuries in construction, according to the Quarterly Data Report from CPWR – The Center for Construction Research and Training. The other hazards include falls, caught-in-between injuries, and electrocution. Between […]

August 10, 2017

Roadbuilding

Five workers fall into canal while painting NY bridge, one drowns

On the morning of November 6, a cable is believed to have broken, sending five contract workers who were painting the Smiths Basin Bridge on Route 149 in Kingsbury, N.Y. for the New York Department of Transportation (NYDOT) into the waters of the Champlain Canal, Time Warner Cable News reports. One worker was killed in the accident […]

November 10, 2016

Roadbuilding

First Caltrans District 7 employee death on the job in 11 years as worker is struck on freeway near LA

California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) District 7 employee Jorge Lopez, 57, was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer September 1 while working on the Antelope Valley Freeway in Acton at Crown Valley Road. Lopez, an electrician and 16-year Caltrans veteran, is the first District 7 agency employee to be killed on the job since 2005. […]

September 5, 2016

Roadbuilding

Tennessee DOT veteran struck and killed by vehicle while flagging

Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) operations technician James “Pee Wee” Hopkins, 63, was struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle July 27 while flagging traffic around a maintenance crew on Tennessee 54 near U.S. 412 in Crocket County. TDOT says this is the second employee fatality in the past three months, and has had 111 […]

July 29, 2016

Workforce

Worker killed in 53-story fall from Los Angeles hotel under construction

A construction worker was killed last week in Los Angeles after suffering a fall from 53 stories. According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, 36-year-old Joseph Sabbatino, was in his second day on the job as an electrician at the Wilshire Grand, a $1.2-billion hotel and office building under construction, when he fell […]

March 21, 2016

Roadbuilding

Road worker killed following dump truck electrocution in S. Carolina

A road worker in South Carolina died after he was electrocuted while loading asphalt into a paver. According to The State, Javier Lopez-Lira was working with a crew on Shadow Wood Drive in Richland County when the incident occurred. Lopez-Lira was loading asphalt into the paving machine from a dump truck when the bed of […]

March 16, 2016

Safety

Five-ton generator falls from crane, killing 2 construction workers in New Jersey

Two construction workers were killed in a crane accident last week on a New Jersey jobsite when a large generator fell on top of them. According to a report from NJ.com, 25-year-old Joseph Donahue and another unidentified worker were killed while crews were installing the generator at a firehouse under construction in Hanover. A crane […]

February 25, 2016