OSHA fines Boonton company in fatal trench collapse
BOONTON TWP. – The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined a township company $77,000 after investigating a ditch collapse at a Rockaway Valley Road home that claimed the lives of two workers last October.
OSHA fined Bednar Landscape Services after determining the company was responsible for one willful and nine serious safety violations due to a lack of cave-in protection on the ditch the men were working in.
Bednar employees Oscar Portillo, 46, and Selvin Zelaya, 39, were two of four men working in the approximately 9- to 13-foot-deep ditch at a residence on Rockaway Valley Road in Boonton installing a French drain pipe when the walls collapsed.
One of the two became trapped and the other jumped in to try a
nd save him; both Portillo and Zelaya were soon under about 10 feet of dirt.
A third man was not injured and a fourth managed to escape as the wall collapsed.
"Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. The fact that two workers are killed each month in trench collapses underscores how important cave-in protections are," OSHA regional administrator Robert Kulick said. "An unprotected trench can be a death trap and should never be entered. There are several ways to protect people who work in trenches, and trenches should be inspected at the start of each shift and as needed throughout the work day by trained professionals."
OSHA announced it was investigating the deaths last October, and had until Wednesday to complete the investigation and release its findings.
Bednar Landscape Services has 15 business days to pay the $77,000 fine, request a conference, or contest the results of the investigation.
Bednar, which did not have an OSHA history prior to the October 2014 incident, declined to comment on the matter Wednesday.
The one willful citation was due to the trench not being adequately sloped, protected by shields or shoring.
A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
The nine serious violations included not providing a ladder in the trench every 25 feet to allow safe exit, not having a competent person inspect the trench, and failure to have utilities marked out, provide head protection, and train workers on the hazards of the chemicals with which they worked.
A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
"One cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a small car when a trench caves-in or collapses. Without the required protections, these men had no way to escape and their heartbroken families are left to make sense of a needless tragedy," Parsippany OSHA director Kris Hoffman said. "Bednar management placed its employees in mortal danger by not using cave-in protections, and we believe these managers were plainly indifferent to the serious dangers their workers faced."
OSHA spokeswoman Leni Uddyback-Fortson said in October that generally speaking, trenching deaths caused by cave-ins are completely preventable if employers follow OSHA's excavation standards and provide protective systems. However, 56 workers died in trenching incidents between 2011 and 2013, she added.
Trenches deeper than 5 feet require a protective system and that a "competent person" inspect trenches daily, according to the website.
The full citation can be viewed at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/Bednar-Landscape-Services-Inc_998237_0327_15.pdf.
Staff Writer Michael Izzo: 973-428-6636; mizzo@dailyrecord.com