A mechanic was killed while repairing a large excavator by himself because his employer didn’t have a lone work policy, according to state investigators. The 36-year-old mechanic was found dead from asphyxiation, having been trapped in a head down position for hours during his attempt to install a swing drive into the excavator while he was alone, a report from the Washington State Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation (FACE) Program states. Mechanic was left alone on the worksite to finish his task On April 7, 2023, the mechanic was tasked with installing a swing drive into an excavato ..read more

A Florida rental crane service provider was cited by federal OSHA after the electrocution of an uncertified 34-year-old equipment operator whose crane contacted two 13,200-volt power lines. In August 2023, the operator was sent to work alone at a residential construction site to lift and place metal frame roof trusses. After he positioned the crane on an unpaved driveway and extended the boom for the first lift, he was electrocuted when the steel wire rope and chain rigging of his crane’s boom contacted the two power lines. Inspectors found that the employer’s decision to send an uncertified c ..read more

An employer’s failure to use job hazard analyses (JHAs) and coordinate safety programs on a multi-employer worksite led to the death of a worker who was struck by a light tower’s ballast weight. The worker, a rigging crew leader, was helping to position the stage light tower when the tower’s ballast weight tipped off of the forks of a telehandler and crushed his torso, killing him. Investigators with the Massachusetts State Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation (FACE) Program determined in December 2023 that the employer’s failure to properly coordinate with another employer onsite and ..read more

OSHA cited a Tennessee-based contractor following the heat illness-related death of a 33-year-old construction worker at an Alabama worksite. The worker, a concrete finisher, collapsed “after showing clear signs of heat illness,” according to OSHA. Inspectors found that the contractor could have prevented the fatal incident by following established safety practices to prevent heat illnesses. Inspectors found that the contractor’s employees were working on July 28, 2023 as the heat index approached 107 degrees and humidity reached 85%. Co-workers observed the concrete finisher stumbling, talkin ..read more

A worker was killed in an 8-foot-deep trench when a water line broke and filled the trench with water and dirt, which turned into a thick mud. The worker, an untrained day laborer, became submerged under the mud and couldn’t be rescued by his co-workers. Investigators with the California State Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation (FACE) Program determined that failure to have a competent person onsite and a lack of safety training contributed to the fatal incident. Unlicensed plumber hires 4 day laborers to dig trench On Sept. 14, 2022, the owner of a mobile home park called the plumbe ..read more

The 39-year-old co-owner of a construction company was killed when a work truck backed over him, despite the fact he was wearing a high-visibility vest at the time. Investigators found that the driver’s view from the truck was restricted due to a rack and fuel transfer hose reel on its flatbed deck. The truck also lacked a backup signal alarm. Driver didn’t realize he’d run over anyone The co-owner worked as an employee for his family’s business for 17 years with the last eight years spent as a co-owner. He worked on large civil projects, splitting his duties as a project manager, foreman and ..read more

A 59-year-old construction foreman suffered a fatal fall from the leading edge of a roof deck despite wearing fall PPE. Investigators found that his employer failed to train him on how to use the equipment. Washington State Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation (FACE) program investigators determined that the foreman used a fall-arrest system that was too long and failed to properly secure the chest and leg straps of his harness. Falls 17 feet to ground inside building The foreman was employed by a residential and commercial property management company that had him working with a crew a ..read more

Failure to properly train employees and the use of older mobile equipment that lacks up-to-date safety features can be a lethal combination. Employees using heavy equipment need to be thoroughly trained to operate these vehicles safely. This is especially critical when heavy equipment of an older design is in use because these vehicles could have safety shortcomings when compared to those of more recent manufacture. An Oregon State Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation (FACE) program report on a March 2021 double fatality reveals that the incident was the direct result of a combination ..read more

A construction company owner and foreman were convicted of homicide and other charges in relation to a fatal wall collapse at a New York City worksite. Jiaxi “Jimmy” Liu, owner of WSC Group Inc., and Wilson Garcia Jr., a foreman for the company, were both convicted at trial for the death of Luis Almonte Sanchez, who was buried under thousands of pounds of debris when a wall at a construction site collapsed. WSC Group also defrauded the New York State Insurance Fund by making false statements about who it was employing, and committed tax fraud by failing to file taxes between 2015 and 2018. Liu ..read more

OSHA has joined with a task force of construction industry employers, unions and educators to help raise awareness about the high rate of suicide among construction workers. The task force seeks to highlight the work stresses seen as the causes of depression and suicidal thoughts and acts among workers in the construction industry, according to the Department of Labor. 5 times greater than rate of other work-related fatalities The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the suicide rate for men in construction and extraction was five times greater than the rate of all o ..read more