A Connecticut demolition contractor faces proposed fines of $375,021 after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration alleges that the July 22, 2022, death of a worker during a trench cave-in resulted from apparent safety failures on the job site.
Manchester, Connecticut-based Botticello Inc. exposed the deceased worker to fatal hazards while working to connect drainage pipes at a construction site for a housing development in Vernon, Connecticut, according to OSHA.
The company was charged with three willful violations after OSHA inspectors said the company had failed to provide statutory safeguards to prevent the trench from collapsing, including failing to ensure the 135-foot-long trench offered adequate means of egress for employees to leave in a safe way.
Botticello was charged with similar violations in November 201
5, according to OSHA. At the time, inspectors said the company failed to provide safeguards designed to protect workers from potentially deadly cave-ins.OSHA said after the earlier citation that the company should have already been aware of the dangers of exposing workers to unprotected trenches.
The company has 15 days to contest the lawsuit.
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