OSHA: No Reinforced Walls in Deadly Ohio Trench Collapse

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says inspectors probing a construction site where a worker was killed this week found no evidence the wall of the trench was reinforced.

Cleveland.com reports OSHA officials say inspectors didn’t find a trench box or shoring material to protect workers at the site in Mentor, about 25 miles east of Cleveland.

Twenty-eight-year-old Alexander Marcotte was killed when trench dirt collapsed on him. The trench for a waterline project was about 6 to 8 feet deep.

OSHA spokesman Scott Allen says the agency requires companies working in trenches deeper than 4 feet to reinforce the walls. It’s unclear if Aqua Ohio will be cited.

A company spokesman says Aqua Ohio is working with OSHA and conducting an internal investigation. He declined to comment further.