Cal/OSHA cited D’Arcy & Harty Construction Inc. $371,100 for failing to protect employees working in a trench excavation at a construction site in San Francisco.
On Sept. 28, 2023, an employee was replacing sewer parts inside the eight-foot-deep trench at 1101 Oak Street when the excavation collapsed, fatally burying the 24-year-old worker.
Cal/OSHA investigators determined D’Arcy & Harty Construction committed willful-serious safety violations by failing to provide a protective system for employees working in the trench and for failing to provide a means of escape in case of collapse, which the employer had reportedly been warned about weeks before.
A Cal/OSHA investigator reportedly told D’Arcy & Harty Construction that a trench excavation at 3475 22nd Street did not have adequate shoring and did not have a ladder or other means for workers to escape in case of collapse. The hazards at that San Francisco site were abated before work was able to continue.
Cal/OSHA cited D’Arcy & Harty Construction for eight violations total in the fatal incident, including three categorized as serious accident-related for failure to conduct daily safety inspections of the trench for evidence of possible cave-ins before an employee is allowed to work inside the trench, and failure to properly use equipment and materials to prevent employee exposure to excavation and trenching hazards.
Topics California Construction
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