BRIDGEPORT, CT – An Easton concrete and earthwork contractor could have prevented an employee from suffering fatal injuries in a December 2023 trench collapse at a New Canaan work site but failed to follow federal safety standards for excavations.
Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) determined Sound Construction Inc. exposed five employees to cave-in, engulfment, or struck-by hazards by not providing cave-in protection for the more than 12-foot-deep vertical walled trench, failing to train employees on how to recognize and avoid trenching hazards, not ensuring an excavator was kept more than two feet from the trench’s edge, and not verifying the location of underground utilities or structures prior to excavation.
OSHA cited Sound Construction for two willful and five serious violations of federal regulations and proposed $394,083 in penalties. In 2016, the agency cited the company for three serious violations related to trench safety at a Trumbull worksite.
“Despite prior warnings, Sound Construction ignored trench safety protections and that decision cost an employee their life,” said OSHA Area Director Catherine Brescia in Bridgeport, Connecticut. “All employers should make workplace safety a priority or risk being responsible for leaving the family, friends and co-workers of one or more of their employees to grieve this kind of preventable death.”
The company 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.
Further information on OSHA's trench safety guidelines is available through their resources on trenching hazards and solutions along with a safety video.
