A Connecticut-based earthwork contractor is facing a staggering fine exceeding $1.2 million due to ongoing safety violations, following the tragic death of an employee. This alarming situation has arisen as federal safety inspectors discovered that the company continued to place its workers in perilous excavation environments, despite having previously faced repercussions and numerous safety warnings.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Sound Construction Inc., located in Easton, for willfully neglecting the safety of its workers, particularly regarding cave-in and excavation dangers. These findings emerged from a follow-up inspection at a worksite in Stamford conducted in June.
This isn’t Sound Construction's first encounter with OSHA; the company has established a disturbing history of safety infractions that stretches back nearly ten years. For instance, in 2016, OSHA identified three serious violations concerning trench safety at a site in Trumbull. Alarmingly, despite these prior warnings, an employee lost their life when a trench collapsed at a job site in New Canaan in December 2023.
The investigation that followed this fatal accident revealed that Sound Construction had placed five employees in hazardous conditions. They failed to adequately inform workers about the risks associated with trenching and did not provide necessary cave-in protections for a vertical-walled trench that extended 12 feet deep. Catherine Brescia, the Area Director for OSHA, stated, "Despite previous warnings, Sound Construction ignored trench safety protections, and that decision cost an employee their life. All employers should prioritize workplace safety or risk being held responsible for leaving families, friends, and coworkers grieving a preventable tragedy."
Additionally, the investigation indicated that the company neglected to ensure that an excavator was positioned more than two feet away from the trench edge and did not check for the location of underground utilities. As a result, OSHA issued citations for two willful violations and five serious violations, proposing penalties totaling $394,083.
As part of a settlement agreement stemming from this case, Sound Construction was mandated to submit monthly updates on active worksites and consent to random inspections by OSHA.
During the follow-up inspection on June 12 in Stamford, OSHA uncovered an alarming number of violations—seven willful and four serious—that pertained to excavation hazards. Inspectors found that the company failed to train its employees on the dangers of unsafe trenching and excavation practices, did not provide adequate protection against cave-ins, and neglected to perform daily inspections of excavation sites.
Moreover, the contractor did not adhere to the proper standards for installing trench shields and failed to backfill those shields to prevent dangerous movements, as noted by OSHA. The latest round of violations has led to proposed penalties amounting to $1,224,798, which is over three times the fines assessed during the investigation of the fatal incident.
