Cal/OSHA Cites Equipment Company, Refers Contractor for Prosecution in Confined Space

May 8, 2023

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health cited Meeder Equipment Co. of Rancho Cucamonga and referred D&D Construction Specialties Inc. of Sun Valley for criminal prosecution in two separate cases of workers’ deaths related to confined spaces.

Meeder and its successors were cited a combined $272,250 for serious safety violations following a confined space death of a worker who suffocated in a 10,000-gallon propane gas tank.

In a separate case, D&D faced criminal prosecution for the 2016 death of a worker who lost consciousness and fell 15 feet while cleaning a 50-foot-deep drainage sump. Cal/OSHA’s Enforcement branch also issued citations to D&D, including a serious accident-related citation for failure to conduct a hazard inspection before this work was performed.

In 2022, a mechanic employed by Meeder reportedly entered a tank to spray a valve inside and was later found unresponsive inside the confined space.

The Rancho Cucamonga Fire Department rescued the employee and transported him to a nearby hospital where he died.

In a separate and unrelated investigation, Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations referred for criminal prosecution to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office a worker’s 2016 confined-space death.

The victim in the D&D case was employed by a contractor as a laborer and was assigned to clean the bottom of a 50-foot-deep drainage sump.

The victim reportedly stood on a metal bucket attached to a small crane that lowered him into the shaft opening. After 15 to 20 feet, he became unresponsive and fell head-first to the bottom of the shaft. The victim drowned.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office in 2019 filed a felony criminal complaint against D&D.